The air quality in the D.C. region reached Code Red — or worse — on Wednesday morning, meaning it’s unhealthy for the general population to be outside, as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to waft over the area.
D.C.’ s Air Quality Index score moved up to 199 on Wednesday morning, putting the city in the red category of the AQI’s six-category meter. (Last week, smoke from New Jersey wildfires pushed us into Code Orange.)
When air quality is in Code Red, people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should avoid outdoor activities, keep them short, or move them inside to the extent that it’s possible.
Everyone else in the general public is recommended to avoid strenuous activity outdoors (swap a jog for a walk) and limit time spent outdoors being active. People might notice feeling short of breath, a scratchy throat, or inflammation in your chest while air quality is at its lowest.
You can use airnow.gov — a website that pulls data from the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia environmental departments and EPA — to check what the latest AQI Code is for your area. For example, Alexandria, Virginia reached Code Purple at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
According to airnow.gov, the air quality is expected to remain in Code Red for Thursday as well, and potentially creep back down into orange by Friday, at which point it would be unhealthy for sensitive groups to be outside. Capital Weather Gang’s Ian Livingston expects that the worst of the smoke will last through at least the weekend, and potentially beyond. There is a chance that smoke from the north could move over the Atlantic before invading the region, but a dense smoke plume appears to be heading south for Wednesday into Thursday.
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