Canadian wildfires cause hazy conditions in Bay Area: How long will it last?

TAMPA, Fla. - Commuters across the Bay Area may notice it’s a little tough to see as they head into work on Wednesday as haze lingers across the area.

FOX 13 Meteorologist Dave Osterberg says that the visibility is not ‘tremendously awful’, but people will probably smell smoke for the next several hours.

That smoke is from wildfires burning in Canada. Winds from the northeast are carrying the smoke and impacting air quality along the east coast of the United States, according to Sarasota County authorities.

On Tuesday, visibility was limited to a couple miles across the Bay Area with thicker haze farther away from the coastline. 

Osterberg says computer models show a lot of the smoke being pushed to the west by Wednesday afternoon. 

READ: Pasco County officials say harmful blue-green algal toxins in Blanton Lake

On Tuesday, several communities across the Bay Area, including Tampa, Pinellas County and Sarasota County  issued air quality or air pollution advisories. Pinellas County's is extended through Wednesday and Sarasota's expires Wednesday evening. 

Pinellas County officials warn people with lung disease such as asthma, older adults, children and teenagers, and people who are active outside to consider reducing prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion until air quality conditions are better, while residents across the Bay Are who are sensitive to air quality should stay indoors.

For more information about the advisory for Sarasota County, click here, or dial 311.

For questions concerning the advisory for Pinellas County, call Public Works, Pinellas County Air Quality Section at (727) 464-4422.

For more information about air quality, click here.