Air quality alerts are issued when pollution levels rise to unhealthy levels, warning the public, especially vulnerable groups, to limit outdoor exposure for health and safety.

An Air Quality Health Advisory is in effect until midnight tonight for much of upstate New York, including the Finger Lakes, western New York, the Southern Tier, and central New York regions.

Smoke from central Canadian wildfires continues to drift across the Northeast, muting the typically deep blue sky associated with Canadian air outbreaks and giving the atmosphere a hazy, almost heat wave appearance regardless of temperature.