Today: Wildfire Smoke Turns Day into Night Across Major Cities
City, Date — In a stunning environmental development unfolding today, dense smoke from ongoing wildfires in northern Canada has blanketed skies across the northeastern United States, turning daylight into near pitch-darkness and prompting unprecedented air quality alerts in major cities like New York, Toronto, and Montreal.
Cities Plunged into Daytime Darkness
Skywatchers reported an eerie transformation this morning as cities normally bright with daylight were swallowed by an orange-gray gloom. In New York City, the skyline—including landmarks like the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty—vanished into a surreal haze at midday. Many residents described the atmosphere as resembling “an eerie twilight” well into the afternoon.
Smoke in the Air: A Grey Blanket Stretching Far and Wide
This dramatic darkening is directly tied to smoke from the 2025 Canadian wildfires, which have been intensifying across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Plumes of thick smoke have traveled thousands of kilometers southward, sending particulate matter across regions and prompting air quality health warnings.
Health Warnings and AQI Alerts Issued
Authorities issued Code Orange Air Quality Alerts for areas including New York City and its environs, urging residents — especially children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions — to remain indoors and limit outdoor activity.
A Reprise of Environmental Memory
Today’s situation evokes a similarly eerie historical event: on May 19, 1780, New England and parts of Quebec experienced the “Dark Day,” where smoke from massive forest fires combined with fog and clouds to blanket the day in total darkness, so much so that candles were needed from noon.