Wildfire smoke finally made its way down to Florida on Tuesday, coating the skies in a thick blanket of gray.
Air quality and visibility were impacted as far south as Miami, according to AccuWeather, which shared footage of the gray skies over Port Orange. While the outlet claimed it was Canadian wildfire smoke causing the haze, I checked out a map of active wildfires Wednesday and found a slew burning from east Texas through to Alabama, which may be the actual culprit.
Candian wildfire smoke creates hazy skies in FLORIDA today. 🔥💨
Visibility and air quality were impacted as far south as Miami. #FLwx pic.twitter.com/jdZSVGxood— AccuWeather (@accuweather) October 3, 2023
A second map showed there are currently more wildfires burning in the U.S. than in Canada right now. But even the Weather Channel claimed the smoke bothering Florida comes from the same system that coated Maine and Atlantic Canada just a week ago. The plume is being sent south-westwards by high pressure off the Plains, Midwest and Northeast.
Smoky skies had us all talking today! Here was the path that the Canadian wildfire smoke took on its way to Florida. The red circle indicates where milky haze/smoke appeared each day on satellite since late Sept. on its path ultimately to us. #FLwx @CIRA_CSU pic.twitter.com/qmisP2SMdp
— NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) October 3, 2023
Apparently, more than 800 fires are still burning in Canada, bringing unhealthy air quality down to parts of Tampa Bay, Sarasota, Ocala and Lakeland. (RELATED: News Censorship On Facebook Is Endangering Wildfire Evacuees In Canada, Residents Say)
Officials warned back in June that wildfire smoke may intensify and last all summer, bringing smoky conditions throughout the U.S. It appears these predictions have come true, despite the FireNow maps clearly showing there are more wildfires in the U.S. than in Canada at this moment in time.