{"id":6380,"date":"2026-07-18T22:36:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T22:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6380"},"modified":"2026-07-18T22:36:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T22:36:23","slug":"thunderstorms-will-clear-wildfire-smoke-from-northeast-ahead-of-world-cup-final-meteorologists-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=6380","title":{"rendered":"Thunderstorms will clear wildfire smoke from Northeast ahead of World Cup final, meteorologists say"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) \u2014 Smoke from Canadian wildfires that engulfed the Northeast in haze is expected to mostly clear from the New Jersey area just in time for the World Cup final on Sunday thanks to thunderstorms passing through, meteorologists said.<\/p>\n

Read more 16 US service members have died in the Iran war, reflecting a conflict fought largely in the air<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, warnings of unhealthy air remained in effect Saturday across a wide swath of the United States, and President Donald Trump continued to lay blame on Canada for the smoke crossing the border. <\/p>\n

Trump, who planned to attend the cup final, threatened to impose tariffs in response, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford criticized that as unacceptable and shortsighted.<\/p>\n

At MetLife Stadium, where the World Cup final is scheduled to take place, the sky was the same thick, soupy gray it has been for days, even after a drenching thunderstorm prompted warnings of flash flooding and forced the Spanish national team to suspend its last outdoor training session ahead of the clash with Argentina.<\/p>\n

After the rain cleared, Netherlands tourists Joost Timpers and his two sons were among fans taking photos outside the open-air venue, which has been renamed the New York\/New Jersey Stadium for the matches. <\/p>\n

They did not have tickets to the final but biked more than an hour from their hotel just to see the arena up close. Timpers said he was certain players and fans will fare just fine even if conditions do not improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not experts in air quality, of course, but we are experiencing the quality now,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t experience anything different from cycling in the Netherlands or anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Storms will help clear the air<\/h3>\n

Saturday\u2019s storm front will largely move the smoke out of the Northeast before the final between Spain and Argentina, said Tyler Roys, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,\u201d Roys said. \u201cIn terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the Northeast.\u201d<\/p>\n

WFLA-TV Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist Jeff Berardelli, in Tampa, Florida, echoed Roys, saying the storm front would \u201csweep the atmosphere clean,\u201d leaving only a thin smoke that World Cup spectators may still smell in the air.<\/p>\n

The air quality index shows an improvement from unhealthy air for sensitive groups on Saturday to \u201cmoderate\u201d air quality Sunday in East Rutherford, which means little to no health risk for the general public.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t be dangerous anymore,\u201d Berardelli said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be dramatically better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The smoke could still cause issues for people who are sensitive to particulate matter, and they should check the air quality index particularly in the morning, said Rob Shackelford, a meteorologist for The Weather Channel app and weather.com.<\/p>\n

Air quality at the field is measured every 10 minutes, said David Lu, CEO and co-founder of Clarity Movement, an environmental technology company providing air quality monitoring services. In the past two days, the readings have swung between the level where the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups and the level where it\u2019s very unhealthy, Lu said. He said Saturday afternoon he expects to see improvement in the readings within hours because of the rain.<\/p>\n

Read more Mbapp\u00e9 starts for France in third-place match vs. England, while Kane and Bellingham sit<\/a><\/p>\n

Temperatures are forecast to be around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), with light breezes and low humidity for the start of the final.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t have asked for much better weather for the World Cup,\u201d Berardelli added.<\/p>\n

Both Roys and Berardelli expect the heavier smoke Sunday to be concentrated closer to the fires, hanging over parts of the Midwest and the Great Lakes region.<\/p>\n

Trump talks of new tariffs on Canada<\/h3>\n

The president made no mention of the World Cup final but said on his social media platform, \u201cWe are holding Canada responsible.\u201d He added that the U.S. \u201cis being unnecessarily invaded by filthy, polluted, and unhealthy air, the quality of which is dangerous, and totally unacceptable!\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the topic of U.S. officials complaining about smoke from during a news conference Thursday. Carney said climate change is the responsibility of everyone, including the United States. <\/p>\n

Ford said Canada has contributed to fighting fires in the U.S. and offered assistance when Georgia was hit by a hurricane in 2024 because \u201cthat\u2019s what neighbors do.\u201d Ford called the rhetoric \u201cabsolutely unacceptable\u201d when Canada is \u201ctrying to get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are hundreds of active fires in Canada<\/h3>\n

Wildfires have been igniting across Canada and northern Minnesota this month. Berardelli said they are burning longer and faster because of climate change. The Canadian Wildland Fire Information System showed hundreds of active fires Saturday. Environment Canada issued air quality warnings across the country and into the Northwest Territories.<\/p>\n

The fires prompted evacuations, including in Nova Scotia where there\u2019s a large fire that local and provincial crews have been fighting since Wednesday, and in northwestern Ontario, where \u200bsome of the most intense fires are burning.<\/p>\n

In Ontario, nearly 200 wildfires have already scorched more land than all of last year\u2019s fires. In Thunder Bay, Ontario, Fire Chief Dave Tarini said this fire season is unprecedented in his more than 35 years as a firefighter.<\/p>\n

In British Columbia, about 100 fires are burning, a huge jump from the 20 firefighters were facing Wednesday. The BC Wildfire Service says the fires are largely the result of 4,000 lightning strikes that hit the province Friday.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Associated Press writer Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Sports Writer Stephen Whyno in New York contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.<\/p>\n

Read more Oh, baby! Sam Burns takes the lead in a British Open he planned to miss<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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