Here comes the haze. Smoke from wildfires in Canada to push back into Kentucky this week.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is coming back to Kentucky.
WKYT Chief Meteorologist Chris Bailey said smoke from the northwest will push back into the Bluegrass Sunday and Monday, probably lingering into Tuesday.
“The air quality will essentially take another hit,” Bailey said, but “It’s not quite to the extent of what we had last time.”
The Louisville Air Pollution Control District issued an air quality alert for Sunday for the Louisville area, saying “particle pollution is forecast to be at levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups,” such as children, the elderly, those with heart disease and people with asthma.
“We can see on Saturday that the smoke plume ... extends all the way from the plains to the midwest,” said Dan McKemy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Louisville.
By the middle and latter part of the week, Bailey said the weather pattern will be disrupted with more rounds of storms, which should push the smoke out of the region again.
“That’s been the theme all summer,” Bailey said Saturday.
The National Weather Service said in a hazardous weather outlook statement Saturday afternoon that “brief heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and lightning” could be possible with a few thunderstorms in Central Kentucky and southern Indiana Saturday night, followed by “unsettled weather” Sunday through Friday. The weather service said ”periods of showers and thunderstorms are expected to move through the region,” some of which could be strong or severe.
For days late last month, a thick haze hung over Central Kentucky, prompting an air quality alert for more than 40 Kentucky counties, until storms blew in and the smoke dissipated.
The Washington Post reported that almost 24 million acres, “an area larger than the state of Indiana,” has burned so far in the worst wildfire season on record for Canada, forcing the evacuation of 155,000 people from their homes.
This story was originally published July 15, 2023 at 3:01 PM.
