A Yellow Haze: Canadian Wildfires Bring An Unsettling Glow To Major US Cities - Broadway Shows Cancelled, Flights Delayed

When Chris Martin of Coldplay wrote the 2000 hit song "Yellow," he didn't expect his lyrics to predict the cityscape of urban centers across North America, as he sang that "it was all yellow."

As a yellowish haze coming from over 413 Canadian wildfires continues to engulf major cities across the Northeast corridor on Thursday, inhabitants of New York, Boston, Washington, D.C, Baltimore and other cities will likely spend a second night unable to "look at the stars."

The extreme atmospheric event is already disrupting the economic activity of the area, which also includes major urban centers in Canada —including the country's financial center in Toronto— as well as other major cities in the Midwest like Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago.

Smoke And Flights: By Thursday morning, more than 800 flights had been delayed across the U.S. due to the smoke, which caused a temporary halt on all traffic to Philadelphia International Airport, which resumed activity around 10a.m.

By 1p.m. ET, Departures at New York's La Guardia airport were delayed by an average of 54 minutes due to low visibility, according to the FAA. New Jersey's Newark experienced a similar situation, with a 34-minute average delay.

Kevin Morris, Communications Specialist at the FAA, said that smoke causes more delays than fog or rain because solid particles make the navigation systems on airplanes less effective, although the degree of low visibility may be comparable. The smoke forces air transit authorities and airlines to take extra safety measures, which in turn causes the delays that travelers experience

"As the wind shifts, we could have impacts in the Midwest and further Southeast in the United States," added Sam Ausby, National Traffic Manager at the FAA.

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New York Shut-Downs: Several events and venues in NYC had to cancel operations due to the smoke. Performances of Shakespeare in the Park, a NYC classic, were canceled on Thursday and Friday. Several Broadway shows, including critically-acclaimed musicals "Hamilton" and "Camelot" at the Lincoln Center, were also shut down.

Jodie Comer's one-woman show "Prima Facie," also had its curtains shut due to the smoke. The award-winning star of "Killing Eve" was forced to stop short a Wednesday performance after three minutes into the show, she was quoted with saying "I can't breathe in this air," reported The Guardian.

The city’s zoos and the New York Aquarium were closed on Thursday. A Yankee game against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium was postponed, as well as the WNBA game between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx at Barclays Center. 

Several public schools in the New York Tri-State area were also closed, according to ABC7.

The smoke, which has reached Greenland and Iceland, is expected to reach Norway this week, according to AP News.

When Will The Smoke Dissipate? A report by CBS News is painting a smokey picture for the rest of the week in the Boston–Washington corridor, as forecasts predict that "air quality will not improve substantially for a few more days."

Smoke is expected to clear once winds can shift the current "blocked pattern" engulfing the Northeast. The shift is expected to occur during the weekend, although expected rain showers could temporarily bring some relief from the smoke.

The smoke might clear from the East Coast, "but as long as the fires continue, the smoke may simply be directed towards other areas of the U.S.," including possibly the Midwest, according to a tweet by the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.

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Photo by Caleb Cook on Unsplash.