(WBEN) - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday extended the Air Quality Alert through Friday due to the smoke that is plaguing "every corner of the state" as a result of Canadian wildfires.
"The truth is, there is no end in sight. We need to remind everyone of the current conditions, what the numbers mean. Let me be clear, we went through this three weeks ago. The numbers, at this moment, do not seem to be trending to be as high as they were three weeks ago, when the skies were literally orange, but there are still significant public health risks," said Gov. Hochul.
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Gov. Hochul broke down what parts of the state are seeing it the worst right now. Central New York's air quality index hit 189 this Thursday. While Anything in the 201-300 range is considered to be "very unhealthy". Levels beyond that are considered to be "hazardous."
The governor says you should check the air quality routinely, just as regularly as you check the weather. In addition, expect text alerts on your phone when the air quality reaches over 200 on the index.
"This weather is going to be lingering across the state all the way in through tomorrow. So we'll be expecting to have another air quality alert tomorrow," says Hochul.
Gov. Hochul emphasized know your body signs. If you have watery eyes, a runny nose or a cough, limit your time outside. If you are in a sensitive group, strongly consider wearing a mask.
"The reality is, this is going to be the new normal for New York. And until these wildfires are under control, we can expect that there'll be intervals, episodes based on the wind shifts when the wind is coming down from the north, we're going to see these trends and these plumes as we've seen from the Midwest here, and they'll be very difficult to predict because we never really know exactly how long the plume will be lingering over a certain part of our state. It involves constant monitoring from our teams."