ALERT DAY: Code Purple air quality alert in effect as Canadian wildfire smoke spreads across Pennsylvania
Storm team forecast with meteorologist Ryan Argenti. Harmful air quality for today and into the rest of this evening and even into tomorrow slightly. We have high concentrations of wildfire smoke across the area and that’s prompted *** code purple air quality alert that remains in effect through the rest of the day today and even into tonight. So then you can see that air quality alert for not only just the Susquehanna Valley but also towards the Delaware Valley, towards the Lehigh Valley, and also towards Pittsburgh at this time. It’s, it’s ***. Very this is *** *** regional issue that we’ve been dealing with and here’s the current air quality that we’re seeing in terms of observations. You can see *** couple, couple harmful dots here. You can see towards Northern Lancaster County, towards Perry County, also towards Adams and Franklin County. So it’s *** widespread, uh, air quality issue that we’re seeing and this smoke, it’s gonna be staying like this. You can see how dark these shades of red are and also the shades of purple here and notice how on the color bar that’s very high and that’s, that’s, you can see that’s. The majority of the area is just approaching that very high contour and that’s just going to be staying like that through the rest of the day today, even into the evening and also look at this, even into tomorrow morning potentially still seeing very high concentrations of wildfire smoke uh throughout the uh throughout our Saturday morning. Now I will make *** mention, uh, we will start to see *** cold front start to move through, but then what happens is that, yeah, we’ll start to, we’ll, we’ll push out the smoke and the poor air quality, but then we trade that off for the potential. For severe storms as we head into our Saturday, which we’ll talk about here in just *** couple of minutes. So expect an overcast haze to continue. Temperatures getting into the 90s for this afternoon. Not as humid though, I’ll say, not as sultry as we were dealing with earlier, uh, yesterday. Then for this evening, expect those hazy skies to continue. Temperatures bottom where they’ll start to lower through the, the, uh, lower 80s. Then we’ll bottom out towards the lower 70s for tonight. Still keeping that alert period in, in place for the smoke and haze, and it’ll be feeling *** little muggy. Outside, so harmful air quality for today. Still looking at poor air quality for tomorrow, but then we’ll see moderate air quality for Sunday and Monday. Temperatures into the 80s right now, also the upper 70s. You can see into the lower 60s, so feeling *** little sticky out there, but I’ll definitely say earlier this morning, if you took *** step outside, you certainly felt *** difference in the amount of humidity that was in the air. Now storm Team Live Radar Network, in terms of precipitation, not seeing much, but you can see, uh, you can see some of the, the, the higher level. Clouds, but also seeing some of that smoke on the satellite imagery there. Now in terms of what predictor is, is indicating to us, we’ll still see, uh, with all things considered, we’ll see, we’ll see the uh mainly clear conditions in terms of the clouds, but then once we get into our Saturday, we’ll see that next system start to push through. Then we’ll see an increase in that cloud cover, seeing *** chance of some showers along this warm front. But then once this cold front starts to push through, then that’s when we’re going to be seeing that chance of seeing some storms. Late Saturday evening and also getting into Saturday night potentially, but then Sunday is shaping up to be mainly sunny thanks to high pressure that starts to shift overhead. But talking about Saturday briefly, we are on *** level 2 out of 5 severe weather risk for the entire area, and that’s going to be from Saturday afternoon through Saturday night, the main threat being damaging winds, although there is *** low. Threat, *** low-end threat for flash flooding, uh, for *** large hill and also *** brief spin up tornado. We did get an update and we are going to be seeing, uh, that chance at play for the first half of the weekend. Sunday looking drier though. That’s going to be the pick of the weekend. Next weekend or next week I should say, looking seasonable with only *** couple of chances of some storms, Brian.
ALERT DAY: Code Purple air quality alert in effect as Canadian wildfire smoke spreads across Pennsylvania
Updated: 2:01 PM EDT Jul 17, 2026
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. 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. 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 90 degrees 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 — the worst categories on the scale. Below: Air quality data across south-central PA as of 10 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
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.
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.
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 conditions
Temperatures are expected to reach 90 degrees 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 quality
Residents 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 — the worst categories on the scale.
Below: Air quality data across south-central PA as of 10 a.m. on July 17, 2026
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.
Drone video: Canadian wildfires leave hazy sky over Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Check live conditions around the Valley
Drone 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