Canadian wildfire smoke map: See where the haze is headed in Delaware, New Jersey and PA

Air quality in the region will be poor Thursday due to the smoke and haze from wildfires in Canada, according to the National Weather Service.

The air quality index throughout Delaware is expected to be unhealthy Thursday. At 5 a.m., the Wilmington area was reporting an air quality index of 427, which is considered hazardous. The index for greater New Castle County at 5 a.m. was 399 (hazardous) while Kent County was at 284 (very healthy) and Sussex County was reporting 190 (unhealthy).

Most of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania also were reporting hazardous or very unhealthy conditions Thursday morning.

This means the risk of health effects is increased for everyone, not just those who have lung and heart problems or other health conditions.

The agency in Mount Holly, New Jersey, is recommending limiting time and any exertion outdoors as well as wearing a mask to help limit irritation if you have to spend time outdoors today.

Why does it smell like smoke today?

In all, some 100 million Americans were affected by air quality alerts Wednesday as Eastern Canada experiences one of its worst recorded wildfire seasons. USA Today reported more than 3 million acres have burned in 1,981 fires in Canada so far this year.

See where the smoke is headed next.

Fire and smoke map

US air quality index map

Staff reporters Isabel Hughes and Andre Lamar contributed to this report