If you’ve noticed hazy skies, vivid sunrises and sunsets over Eastern North Carolina in recent days, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. The cause? Smoke from large wildfires burning across southern Canada, carried aloft and transported thousands of miles by high-altitude winds.

How Does This Happen?

Wildfire smoke can travel long distances when upper-level wind patterns and atmospheric conditions align just right. In this case, a dome of high pressure positioned over the Central Plains teamed up with a low-pressure system spinning over the Northeastern U.S. This combination created a corridor of smoky air stretching from the Upper Midwest, across the Ohio Valley, and into the Carolinas.

The lofted smoke originates high in the atmosphere, which helps disperse it widely and often kee

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