Code RED: Poor air quality continues Wednesday as Canadian wildfire smoke seeps into the Carolinas

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (PINPOINT WEATHER) – Code Red was upgraded and extended through Wednesday night.

Code Red means the air is unhealthy for everyone, not just those with heart and lung issues. Check-in on kids and elderly for respiratory problems.

Especially if you fall into one of the more sensitive groups, limit time outdoors, and maybe check out malls or movies. Keep windows and doors closed. Set window AC units to re-circulate.

The haze and poor air quality are pouring in from wildfires in Quebec, Canada. The jet stream, or path of winds upstairs in the atmosphere, is picking up smoke and spilling it as far south as Carolinas!

The highway of winds remains stalled through Wednesday, so it will still be hazy and smokey around the Carolinas. A cold front swings through in the afternoon, letting the pattern change by Thursday. With the wind shift upstairs in the atmosphere, smoke should ease.

Extra particles from smoke in the atmosphere bend the light differently. When the sun is at a low angle (at sunrise or sunset), the light is scattered differently by the dust, leaving us with more red light… reddish sunsets!