Several New York City residents reported smelling smoke Saturday morning as an inversion trapped smoke from a brush fire in New Jersey near the surface.
NEW YORK — Residents across New York City awoke to a thin brown haze and the smell of smoke Saturday, as a nearby wildfire and chilly morning temperatures led to an inversion that trapped smoke near the ground.
Video from LaGuardia Airport showed a layer of brown haze hovering just over the Manhattan skyline, while multiple residents told FOX Weather their homes or apartments “smelled like a campfire” on Saturday morning.
A clear and calm night allowed morning temperatures near the surface to drop into the low 40s around New York. A warmer layer of air hovered just above the ground, creating a temperature inversion.
Meanwhile, what little breath of wind blew in from the north/northwest, where wildfires are burning in northern New Jersey. One fire is burning near the New York/New Jersey border and appears to be a large source of the smoke, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
Wildfire burning in Northern New Jersey
Other fires nearby include several acres of brush burning in northern New Jersey’s Englewood Cliffs.
Air quality readings have degraded into the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” so far around Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
The inversion should clear as the day warms and the smoke layer should thin out.
But wildfires and smoke remain a threat through the weekend as the Northeast endures one of its driest stretches on record. Millions from the Jersey Shore to Boston were under Fire Weather Warnings through the weekend due to the increased risk of weather conditions conducive for wildfires.
(FOX Weather)
Firefighters worked at least a dozen blazes in the tri-state region Friday, also sending occasional smoke plumes into New York City’s boroughs.
One of those fires brought dozens of firefighters from the New York City Fire Department to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
BROOKLYN BRUSH FIRE ERUPTS DURING ONE OF MOST EXTENSIVE DROUGHTS IN RECENT MEMORY IN NEW YORK
“New Yorkers come together in times of crisis, and right now, amidst the driest spell in recent memory, we need New Yorkers to do just that and conserve as much water as possible,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a recent statement.