Weather whiplash: Region experiencing big temperature swing, Canadian wildfire smoke
Observer-Reporter file photo
It might be time to put away the blankets and turn on the air conditioner as the region is experiencing “weather whiplash” with summer temperatures finally arriving this week, along with a whiff of Canadian wildfire smoke.
Temperatures didn’t make it out of the 50s on Saturday and dropped into the 30s early Monday morning, but that all will change with summer roaring into Western Pennsylvania when temps are forecast to reach the high 80s Wednesday.
“Certainly it’s something to talk about with the weather whiplash over the last several days and several weeks when it’s been cooler, rainier,” said Andrew Kienzle, who is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
May was unusually cool this year, meaning people will have to acclimate quickly to summer-like weather this week, especially with an expected 30-degree temperature jump from Saturday to Wednesday.
“It felt like late fall,” Kienzle said of last weekend. “We have a couple nice days here (this week) and then we’re ramping up to summertime temperatures, so it will be a pretty dramatic change.”
The temperature might’ve reached the low 90s on Wednesday if not for the haze wafting in from numerous wildfires burning in Canada, which is expected to block the sun’s rays a bit and cool it down slightly and bring it into the high 80s instead.
“It might be a touch cooler since you won’t be getting as much heating,” Kienzle said of the wildfire haze, which could lessen visibility.
Even with the wildfire smoke, which is expected to be noticeable in the region beginning today, the weather service doesn’t expect air quality to be poor, which was the case when out of control wildfires burned in Canada in the summer of 2023. Most people won’t notice any issues, although Kienzle said those with respiratory problems might need to take precautions.
“We’re not seeing too much of air quality degradation,” Kienzle said.
While the wildfire smoke isn’t expected to be as bad as a couple of years ago, Dr. Tariq Cheema, who is a chairman of pulmonary critical care with Allegheny Health Network, said it can still be troublesome for people with COPD, asthma or other advanced lung diseases.
“The heavy smoke can be worse for them these days,” Cheema said, adding that it typically leads to wheezing, coughing or other respiratory problems. “Days like these, we tell people to stay inside, keep the windows closed and use their air conditioning.”
If they do need to go outside, he suggested wearing a mask such as an N95 if available. If symptoms get worse, they should call their physician.
For everyone else, though, Cheema is not overly worried, although he advised people who want to exercise outdoors should probably do so in the evening when things have “settled down” a bit.
“A normal person, what can happen is it might be more of an irritant to them,” Cheema said. “This time it isn’t as bad as a couple of years ago when it was thick smog. But it can still cause irritation and coughing, but most people will recover from that.”