Bad-air episodes in Canada
18 times since January 2023, many cities in Canada had air at least twice as dirty as their usual for the time of year on the same days. The largest reached 279 cities: North-eastern United States and Canada, June and July 2023.
2023
- North-eastern United States, November 20235 November 2023, 1 day16 cities41Dublin
- North-western United States, October and November 202331 October to 2 November 2023, 3 days15 cities38Salem
- North-eastern United States and Canada, September and October 202330 September to 1 October 2023, 2 days30 cities40Worcester
- North-western Canada and United States, August and September 202331 August to 6 September 2023, 7 days19 cities354Prince Albert
- Eastern Canada and United States, September 20235 to 6 September 2023, 2 days9 cities40Edmundston
- North-western United States and Canada, August 202317 to 31 August 2023, 15 days110 cities597Kamloops
- Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, August 202327 to 29 August 2023, 3 days9 cities88Prince Albert
- Ontario, Canada, August 202316 August 2023, 1 day16 cities45North Bay
- North-eastern United States and Canada, July 202323 to 26 July 2023, 4 days75 cities58Lansing
- North-eastern United States and Canada, July 202314 to 19 July 2023, 6 days241 cities74Bloomington
- North-western Canada and United States, July 202315 to 17 July 2023, 3 days17 cities202Edmonton
- Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, July 202313 July 2023, 1 day9 cities76Edmonton
- North-eastern United States and Canada, June and July 202325 June to 2 July 2023, 8 days279 cities453Saguenay
- North-eastern United States and Canada, June 202314 to 19 June 2023, 6 days161 cities105Minneapolis
- North-eastern United States and Canada, May and June 202331 May to 12 June 2023, 13 days260 cities253Bethlehem
- North-western United States and Canada, May 202320 to 22 May 2023, 3 days24 cities310Edmonton
- North-western United States and Canada, May 202316 to 20 May 2023, 5 days42 cities160Regina
- North-eastern United States and Canada, April 202315 April 2023, 1 day9 cities30Port Huron
Each row: one bar per day, as tall as the number of cities counted that day and coloured by their median level; the number of cities; the highest daily reading and where. An episode is a run of days when many cities close to each other (four or more within 350 km on a day, 8 or more in all) each had a daily PM2.5 mean of at least 25 µg/m³ and at least 2 times their usual for that time of year. Found in our own measurements, not picked by hand. How we find episodes.