{"id":132984,"date":"2026-07-17T10:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T10:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/132984\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T10:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T10:09:09","slug":"code-purple-air-quality-alert-in-effect-as-canadian-wildfire-smoke-spreads-across-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/132984\/","title":{"rendered":"Code Purple air quality alert in effect as Canadian wildfire smoke spreads across Pa."},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA Code Purple air quality alert is in effect for all of south-central Pennsylvania as thick wildfire smoke continues to spread across the region, creating harmful to hazardous conditions for residents. The smoke, driven by wildfires burning in southern Ontario and northern Minnesota, is spreading across the Great Lakes and Northeast, keeping air quality at very unhealthy levels on Friday. The WGAL News 8 Storm Team has declared Friday an Alert Day, meaning the threat of extreme, severe and possibly life-threatening weather is possible. What is Code Purple? A Code Purple air quality alert means the Air Quality Index has climbed above 200, indicating very unhealthy to harmful air quality. This is extremely rare for the Susquehanna Valley region. At this level, wildfire smoke and pollution are dangerous for everyone, not just people with asthma, heart disease or other health conditions. Below: Swipe through the hour-by-hour smoke forecast That exposure can raise the risk of: Breathing problems Coughing and throat irritation Burning or stinging eyes More serious complications for vulnerable groups Safety precautions Residents are urged to take precautions while the Code Purple alert remains in effect. Keep windows and doors closed Set HVAC systems to recirculate indoor air Limit time outdoors if possible Monitor symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath Weather conditionsTemperatures are expected to reach around 90 degrees on Friday under an overcast haze. While humidity may be lower than the previous day, smoky conditions will continue to affect visibility and air quality. Overnight lows are expected to fall into the low 70s, with smoke and haze lingering into the night. When will air quality improve? Smoke concentrations will remain high through tonight before conditions begin to improve on Saturday as winds shift, a warm front moves in, and smoke gradually lifts out. Air quality outlook: Friday: Harmful Saturday: Poor Sunday: Moderate Monday: Moderate Check your local air qualityResidents can check real-time air quality readings for their neighborhood by visiting AirNow.gov and entering a location or ZIP code. That will show the latest conditions in your immediate area. Right now, readings across the Susquehanna Valley are showing purple to maroon levels, which indicate very unhealthy, harmful, and even hazardous air quality \u2014 the worst categories on the scale. Below: Air quality data across south-central PA as of 5 a.m. on July 17, 2026Did you capture the haze and would like to share with News 8? Send us your photos or videos at https:\/\/www.wgal.com\/upload. Drone video: Canadian wildfires leave hazy sky over Elizabethtown, PennsylvaniaCheck live conditions around the ValleyDrone video: Canadian wildfire smoke settles over the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg SOUTH-CENTRAL PA WEATHER RESOURCES: INTERACTIVE RADAR | ACTIVE WEATHER ALERTS | CURRENT CONDITIONS | HOURLY FORECAST | 10-DAY FORECAST | WEEKEND FORECAST | MAP ROOM | DOWNLOAD THE APP | WEATHER EMAILS\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A Code Purple air quality alert is in effect for all of south-central Pennsylvania as thick wildfire smoke continues to spread across the region, creating harmful to hazardous conditions for residents. <\/p>\n

The smoke, driven by wildfires burning in southern Ontario and northern Minnesota, is spreading across the Great Lakes and Northeast, keeping air quality at very unhealthy levels on Friday. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

The WGAL News 8 Storm Team has declared Friday an Alert Day, meaning the threat of extreme, severe and possibly life-threatening weather is possible. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

What is Code Purple? \t<\/p>\n

A Code Purple air quality alert means the Air Quality Index has climbed above 200, indicating very unhealthy to harmful air quality. This is extremely rare for the Susquehanna Valley region. <\/p>\n

At this level, wildfire smoke and pollution are dangerous for everyone, not just people with asthma, heart disease or other health conditions. <\/p>\n

Below: Swipe through the hour-by-hour smoke forecast<\/p>\n

That exposure can raise the risk of: <\/p>\n

Breathing problems Coughing and throat irritation Burning or stinging eyes More serious complications for vulnerable groups <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

Safety precautions <\/p>\n

Residents are urged to take precautions while the Code Purple alert remains in effect. <\/p>\n

Keep windows and doors closed Set HVAC systems to recirculate indoor air Limit time outdoors if possible Monitor symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

Weather conditions<\/p>\n

Temperatures are expected to reach around 90 degrees on Friday under an overcast haze. <\/p>\n

While humidity may be lower than the previous day, smoky conditions will continue to affect visibility and air quality. <\/p>\n

Overnight lows are expected to fall into the low 70s, with smoke and haze lingering into the night. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

When will air quality improve? <\/p>\n

Smoke concentrations will remain high through tonight before conditions begin to improve on Saturday as winds shift, a warm front moves in, and smoke gradually lifts out. <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

Air quality outlook: <\/p>\n

Friday: Harmful Saturday: Poor Sunday: Moderate Monday: Moderate <\/p>\n

\t\t\"weather<\/p>\n

Check your local air quality<\/p>\n

Residents can check real-time air quality readings for their neighborhood by visiting AirNow.gov<\/a> and entering a location or ZIP code. That will show the latest conditions in your immediate area. <\/p>\n

Right now, readings across the Susquehanna Valley are showing purple to maroon levels, which indicate very unhealthy, harmful, and even hazardous air quality \u2014 the worst categories on the scale. <\/p>\n

Below: Air quality data across south-central PA as of 5 a.m. on July 17, 2026<\/p>\n

Did you capture the haze and would like to share with News 8? Send us your photos or videos at https:\/\/www.wgal.com\/upload<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Drone video: Canadian wildfires leave hazy sky over Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania<\/p>\n

Check live conditions around the Valley<\/p>\n

Drone video: Canadian wildfire smoke settles over the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg<\/p>\n

SOUTH-CENTRAL PA WEATHER RESOURCES: INTERACTIVE RADAR<\/a> | ACTIVE WEATHER ALERTS<\/a> | CURRENT CONDITIONS<\/a> | HOURLY FORECAST<\/a> | 10-DAY FORECAST <\/a>| WEEKEND FORECAST<\/a> | MAP ROOM<\/a> | DOWNLOAD THE APP<\/a> | WEATHER EMAILS<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Code Purple air quality alert is in effect for all of south-central Pennsylvania as thick wildfire smoke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7015,43230,44154,44145,17,43374,44155,44150,43881,43880,44149,44156,56,43882,44157,43507,44158,4299,43065,44148,43420,44146,18607,3837,44151,44152,44147,784,55,44153,12649,44159],"class_list":["post-132984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-air-quality","tag-air-quality-alert","tag-airnow-gov","tag-alert-day","tag-canada","tag-canadian-wildfire-smoke","tag-carlisle","tag-code-purple","tag-condition","tag-effect","tag-elizabethtown","tag-ephrata","tag-forecast","tag-friday","tag-gettysburg","tag-hazy-sky","tag-hershey","tag-level","tag-minnesota-wildfires","tag-moderate-check","tag-ontario-wildfires","tag-overcast-haze","tag-pennsylvania","tag-saturday","tag-south-central-pennsylvania","tag-susquehanna-valley","tag-susquehanna-valley-region","tag-video","tag-weather","tag-wgal-news-8","tag-wildfire-smoke","tag-york-fair"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}