Smoke could blanket East Coast again as Canadian wildfires rage on

New York could be plagued with a second wave of thick orange smoke Thursday, as hundreds of out-of-control wildfires ravage parts of Canada.

Last week’s “unhealthy” air quality may make a return, according to Fox 5 Evening Meteorologist Mike Thomas, who shared a graphic of the smoke forecast through Friday on Twitter.

“Smoky skies returning once again. Still not expected to be as bad as last week, but could get close to code orange later on Thursday into Friday,” Thomas wrote.

“Storms on Friday could be a little extra ‘charged’ as well, as the extra particles in the atmosphere often lead to more lightning!”

Canada continues to have one of its worst wildfire seasons, with more than 400 fires pushing smoke south and into the US, creating major air quality concerns.

Extreme wildfire activity, with over half of the fires considered out of control, will continue to push the thick smog into the northern portion of the US Thursday before the weather pattern takes a turn to head southeast.

Satellite images shared by Thomas show the smoke will likely enter through the Midwest Thursday morning before swooping down and heading toward the South and East Coast later Thursday through Friday.

As the smoke leaves the Dakotas and Minnesota on Thursday, Fox forecasters say it may swing back and enter the Great Lakes and Northeast regions by Friday.

New York City experienced its worst Air Quality Index rating on record last week as winds pushed heavy smoke from the wildfires into the region, blanketing the city in apocalyptic orange smog.

The haze caused air quality in parts of the Big Apple to reach “very unhealthy” levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s index.

The air quality index reached 353 last Wednesday, far worse than New Delhi’s 190, and the normal index of 100 for New York. 

The air was the worst since the 1980s, including after the 9/11 attacks, forecasters said.