NEW YORK (PIX11) — Thick smoke blanketed the tri-state region causing an orange hue to develop at times.

The air quality deteriorated to hazardous levels and according to airnow.gov, all should head indoors due to the high levels of pollutants contained in the smoke. There are indications that the smoke levels will decrease on Thursday, but we may have to wait until Friday or the weekend to see any changes of significance.

The dense smoke’s main source is the numerous ongoing wildfires in Quebec, Canada. An area of low pressure holding nearly steady in New England is bringing in a northerly flow causing all that smoke to head our way. 

The smoky conditions will continue Wednesday night. Overnight temperatures will end up dropping into the upper 50s.

The area of low pressure in New England will take a nudge toward the west, and that will help divert a small amount of the smoke to the west by Thursday. Still, the air quality levels will remain to be unhealthy. An isolated shower or storm may develop in the afternoon, but it will not remove the smoke by any means. Temperatures will be in the 70s.

Friday will feature more smoke, but the low pressure will continue to drift further west. That will bring a better chance of a shower in the afternoon and evening. We may see some progress with the smoke starting to ease, but the air quality will likely remain poor.

Over the weekend, we should see the air quality slowly improve as the winds shift more to the west. The skies may remain hazy, but the sun will help bring temperatures up into the lower 80s by Sunday. 

A storm system will then move in early next week, and that should clear, for the most part, the region out of the smoke and poor air quality.