Sunset of the year on the way to southern Ontario thanks to wildfire smoke

Smoke has made its way to Ontario from the wildfires out west, and some heightened and vibrant sunsets and sunrises are expected across the region on Thursday

Earlier this week, fire activity across western Canada and the Pacific Northwest exploded in intensity, producing ample smoke and poor air quality.

As western Canada deals with poor surface air quality, a thin veil of smoke was lofted well above the surface. The first signs of wildfire smoke reached southern Ontario late Wednesday, after traveling thousands of kilometres.

Smoke satellite

Moreover, on Thursday, vivid sunrises and sunsets are even more likely as the core of the smoke wafts overhead. The smoke particles are comparatively larger than other gas particles. Red light is favourably scattered on the smoke particles, creating vibrant red skies when the sun is lower on the horizon.

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We can pretty much guarantee that the smoke will remain elevated, and not mix down to the surface, as there’s no mechanism to mix the smoke to the ground.

Another way to look at it is a cross-section, as the core of the densest smoke plume as it crosses southern Ontario late Thursday.

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It won’t even touch the top of the CN Tower, the base of the haze will be about four CN Towers away from the ground.

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Eyes to the sky as Thursday evening might just be the sunset of the year.


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Thumbnail image courtesy: Getty Images