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Wednesday, June 07, 2023

MLB postpones Yankees, Phillies games as Canadian wildfire smoke harms air quality

Major League Baseball has postponed two games on Wednesday night due to air quality being negatively impacted by the Canadian wildfires in Quebec. Yankees vs. White Sox in New York and Phillies vs. Tigers in Philadelphia have both been pushed back and rescheduled to play Thursday. Nationals vs. Diamondbacks in Washington D.C., however, will be played as scheduled.

“These postponements were determined following conversations throughout the day with medical and weather experts and all of the impacted clubs regarding clearly hazardous air quality conditions in both cities,” the league said in an announcement.

Health advisories have been put in place across the Northeast this week with areas like New York City blanketed in smoke from the wildfires.

MLB games impacted by wildfires
Phillies vs. Tigers, 6:05 p.m. ET—Status: Postponed. Will be made up Thursday, June 8.
Yankees vs. White Sox, 7:05 p.m. ET—Status: Postponed. Will be made up as part of doubleheader on Thursday, June 8.
Nationals vs. Diamondbacks, 7:05 p.m. ET—Status: Will be played as scheduled

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: June 07, 2023 at 05:31 PM | 37 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: yankees

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1. The Yankee Clapper Posted: June 07, 2023 at 06:03 PM (#6131868)

Nationals vs. Diamondbacks, 7:05 p.m. ET—Status: Will be played as scheduled

I’m about 12 miles south of Nationals Park in Virginia, and haven’t noticed any smoke or haze yet. Might be different in the northern suburbs in Maryland.

2. Tony S Posted: June 07, 2023 at 06:15 PM (#6131869)

Here in Frederick MD the haze is noticeable, but I did my usual five-mile walk today without any real discomfort. There are others who have reported issues, though, and a friend near Philly described the situation there as "like in the middle of a campfire".

and to think that this is just another day in Beijing or Mexico City...

3. Ron J Posted: June 07, 2023 at 06:27 PM (#6131872)

The haze is noticeable here (downtown Ottawa). And the weather forecast reads "Smoke" for the third straight day.

It's bad enough to irritate my eyes any time I go outside.

4. Howie Menckel Posted: June 07, 2023 at 06:29 PM (#6131873)

neighbor in the elevator said a half-hour ago that his Big Apple pals told him that "the whole thing had just lifted" in New York City.

I failed to ask which borough(s) - hey, it was a short ride !

5. tell me when i'm telling 57i66135 Posted: June 07, 2023 at 07:13 PM (#6131884)

Here in Frederick MD the haze is noticeable, but I did my usual five-mile walk today without any real discomfort. There are others who have reported issues, though, and a friend near Philly described the situation there as "like in the middle of a campfire".

can confirm.

but not a good campfire. we're not talking about a hickory or a maple smoke. it's more like a stanky, moldy pine tarry smell.

6. Tony S Posted: June 07, 2023 at 07:21 PM (#6131886)

It's bad enough to irritate my eyes any time I go outside.

Your eyes have a mist from the smoke of a distant fire?

7. It's regretful that PASTE was able to get out Posted: June 07, 2023 at 07:51 PM (#6131898)

I'm about an hour west of Philly and the smoke is consistent and noticeable--though it's not giving me any trouble breathing. But it's possible the persistent ambience of manure in this area has inured us to bronchial irritants.

8. chisoxcollector Posted: June 07, 2023 at 08:35 PM (#6131907)

I’m at a customer in Camden, NJ this week. When I left for the day a couple of hours ago, as soon as I went outside I started coughing. It really is pretty bad.

9. A triple short of the cycle

Posted: June 07, 2023 at 10:49 PM (#6131943)

There was one day in September 2020 when the sky here in California was orange all day. It was like a science fiction movie set on another planet. It was scary. It reminded me we are all germs on a rock flying through space supported and protected by a very thin atmosphere that we are destroying.

10. The Duke Posted: June 07, 2023 at 10:50 PM (#6131944)

I'm a bit surprised - aren't the prevailing winds generally Southwest to Northeast ? Why is this blowing south ? I can see that for a day but not day after day

11. The Duke Posted: June 07, 2023 at 10:53 PM (#6131945)

My first trip to Beijing you could chew the pollution. It was disgusting - I'm not worried about the Chinese they will all die of lung cancer at 40. It's worse than one could even imagine if you haven't seen it. Singapore used to also get the same iforest fire issue from Indonesia and I remember lots of orange days there. Forest fire smoke is awful. It doesn't go away for days or weeks

12. The Honorable Ardo Posted: June 07, 2023 at 11:06 PM (#6131947)

In Detroit it was not even an irritant during the day, but driving home from work at night it looked like a dense fog - it was super hard to see and tons of people had their brights on.

13. Walt Davis Posted: June 08, 2023 at 02:29 AM (#6131970)

a very thin atmosphere that we are destroying.

Do you want to talk about climate change or do you want to watch some dingers?

DINGERS! DINGERS!

14. Starring Bradley Scotchman as RMc Posted: June 08, 2023 at 06:04 AM (#6131974)

A bit smoky here in the Hudson Valley. Reminded me of my '70s childhood, when the local Detroit newspapers used to tally the MURC index.

EDIT: And a Primey for the Sanford-Townsend Band reference!

15. shoelesjoe Posted: June 08, 2023 at 08:03 AM (#6131979)

Wednesday's postponements may be just the start. Last weather update I saw is that the smoke might be hanging over the North East and Mid-Atlantic states through the weekend. The Red Sox @ Yankees, Dodgers @ Phillies, Royals @ Orioles, and Mets @ Pirates could all be in danger of being smoked out.

16. Captain Joe Bivens, Pointless and Wonderful Posted: June 08, 2023 at 08:55 AM (#6131984)

Why is this blowing south ?

Because there was a low pressure system over New England and a high pressure system over eastern Canada.

17. SandyRiver Posted: June 08, 2023 at 08:57 AM (#6131985)

#10: There's a big, blocked cutoff low now over Maine and New Brunswick, and its counterclockwise spin is driving the smoke from P.Q. to the mid-Atlantic states. Southern New England was in the smoke 2 days ago, then the low retrograded to the west, pushing the smoke farther south. We're on day 6 of cool, cloudy and wet here, but at least the air is clean.

Ninja'd by the Captain

18. Tony S Posted: June 08, 2023 at 09:14 AM (#6131986)

Holy smokes, AQI in downtown Frederick is 364. Which is bad. Very bad.

It's in the 170's in Delhi.

19. Steve Parris, Je t'aime Posted: June 08, 2023 at 09:33 AM (#6131990)

AQI in Philly is 369 this morning. I think that's better than last night? It feels a little better than yesterday, but maybe I'm just getting used to it.

20. Hot Wheeling American Posted: June 08, 2023 at 09:34 AM (#6131991)

Huge difference today in NYC. Wouldn't think anything of a slightly hazy sky had yesterday not happened.

21. Walks Clog Up the Bases Posted: June 08, 2023 at 10:45 AM (#6131998)

In Detroit it was not even an irritant during the day, but driving home from work at night it looked like a dense fog - it was super hard to see and tons of people had their brights on.

I'm in mid-Michigan and didn't really notice anything until I came out of the gym around 6 last evening. It looked and smelled like someone had been having a BBQ and set off fireworks. It took me a minute to actually make the connection. It wasn't oppressive or anything, but the smell was still noticeable to the point where I had to shut the windows when I got home.

22. David Nieporent (now, with children) Posted: June 08, 2023 at 10:46 AM (#6131999)

Huge difference today in NYC. Wouldn't think anything of a slightly hazy sky had yesterday not happened.

Yeah, but yesterday morning was fine, too; it wasn't until about noon that it got really bad.

23. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: June 08, 2023 at 12:28 PM (#6132017)

In Detroit it was not even an irritant during the day, but driving home from work at night it looked like a dense fog

Was that due to the wildfires or just an unusually large number of burning crack houses last night?

24. Gator Guy Posted: June 08, 2023 at 02:09 PM (#6132027)

Was that due to the wildfires or just an unusually large number of burning crack houses last night?

How very MAGA of you.

25. The Yankee Clapper Posted: June 08, 2023 at 02:33 PM (#6132028)

Little bit hazy today, and a faint smoky smell in the air, where I am in Northern Virginia about 12 miles south of Nationals Park, but I was a bit surprised that Diamondbacks @ Nationals was postponed. Presumably, they used a more scientific measure of air quality. Game was scheduled for 1:05 PM and the call was made around 11:30 AM.

26. NaOH Posted: June 08, 2023 at 02:50 PM (#6132034)

Presumably, they used a more scientific measure of air quality.

From what I read on Tuesday,

According to a person with direct knowledge of the process, air quality postponements are the purview of Major League Baseball, in consultation with the Players Association, and are out of the hands of the clubs.

In order to arrive at these decisions, MLB speaks to medical and weather experts. These experts take into account not only the air quality index (AQI) but the expected duration of the issue and whether a high AQI is expected to be sustained. When the experts recommend a postponement, the league follows that advice.

Per AirNow.gov, an AQI of 151-200 is classified as “unhealthy;” 201-300 as “very unhealthy;” and 300+ as “hazardous.”

27. Lassus Posted: June 08, 2023 at 02:55 PM (#6132037)

The AQI in Oneida and adjacent counties (central NY) yesterday at 2PM was 438.

28. asinwreck Posted: June 08, 2023 at 03:10 PM (#6132040)

AQI around Yankee Stadium dropped from a peak of 484 (scale goes to 500, the local record before this week was 167) yesterday to 178 this afternoon, so they're playing a double header in an hour.

29. salvomania Posted: June 08, 2023 at 03:11 PM (#6132041)

Here in Boston the AQI is 49 right now. Lower is better, right?

30. The Duke Posted: June 08, 2023 at 04:18 PM (#6132057)

Well, I'm sure those forest fires will burn out any hour now

31. cHiEf iMpaCt oFfiCEr JE

Posted: June 08, 2023 at 04:22 PM (#6132059)

Apparently, Toronto's skies look pretty clear this afternoon.

32. Zach Posted: June 08, 2023 at 05:36 PM (#6132075)

There was one day in September 2020 when the sky here in California was orange all day. It was like a science fiction movie set on another planet.

Orange Day!

The track lighting at my workplace was on at noon because all the photosensors thought it was night.

Due to an odd atmospheric inversion, the air at ground level was actually pretty clean that day, with all the schmutz in the next layer up.

It actually cheered me up in a way. 2020 had become such a cartoonishly awful year that there was nowhere to go but up.

33. Zach Posted: June 08, 2023 at 05:39 PM (#6132078)

It was darkly amusing to see how high the readings on Purpleair.com could go.

34. Pat Rapper's Delight (as quoted on MLB Network) Posted: June 08, 2023 at 07:34 PM (#6132105)

How very MAGA of you.

In the immortal words of Conor McGregor, "Who da fook is dis guy?"

My experience with Detroit was coordinating and troubleshooting with teams of drivers there with computers and other equipment making calls on the cell phone networks and recording performance logs in the overnight hours to confirm that network changes were OK to release for customer use. With a previous employer, I flew to several major metro areas to do this. Los Angeles/San Diego, Vegas, St. Louis, Atlanta, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and others, but only in Detroit did the local telecom engineers there ever give me literal red-lined maps with a caution to not send drivers into particular areas, so feel free to go MAGA yourself any time now.

35. Starring Bradley Scotchman as RMc Posted: June 09, 2023 at 09:58 AM (#6132144)

Detroit was burning long before the George Floyd protests made it fashionable.

36. SoSH U at work Posted: June 09, 2023 at 10:25 AM (#6132146)

The Cincinnati area has been remarkably clear, which seems strange given how bad Nashville was this morning.

37. JL72 Posted: June 09, 2023 at 11:18 AM (#6132151)

I live about 5 miles straight west of Nationals Park. Yesterday and Wednesday were very hazy and smoky, with that campfire smell. Fine to be out for a bit, but got irritating after a while.

Today is much nicer. Still a bit of of a haze, but no smell.

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Wednesday, June 07, 2023

MLB postpones Yankees, Phillies games as Canadian wildfire smoke harms air quality

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