Wildfire smoke is creating unhealthy air quality, with conditions expected to get worse tonight and early Friday.
A Code Purple Air Quality Alert has been issued for Friday as conditions continue to deteriorate.
This is the first time a statewide Code Purple has been issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Air quality will improve this weekend as rain showers move in.
Click here for photos shared from around the area.
Click here to check the current air quality readings.
Click here to see the hours increases.
LIVE UPDATES LISTED BELOW
UPDATE 9 p.m.
The City of Pittsburgh said all outdoor programs will be closed on Friday because of the poor air quality. Those activities include:
- All City Pools
- Northside Farmers Market
- Dollar Bank Cinema in the Park
- Community Pop-Up Concert in Mellon Park
- Roving Art Cart
UPDATE 6 p.m.
A spokesperson for Kennywood said the park will be closing at 6:30 p.m. because of poor air quality.
UPDATE 5:20 p.m.
Channel 11’s Nick Papantonis captured one of Pittsburgh’s most iconic views, covered in wildfire smoke. Watch the video below to see it.
UPDATE 4:45 p.m.
The Allegheny County Health Department has issued a Code Maroon Air Quality Alert.
During a Code Maroon Air Quality Alert, everyone is encouraged to avoid outdoor activities.
Sensitive groups, including people with heart or lung disease, people with asthma, emphysema, or bronchitis, older adults, children and teens, are encouraged to keep their activity levels low indoors.
The warning could carry into tomorrow, officials say.
UPDATE 4:20 p.m.
The City of Pittsburgh announced that city pools will close early because of the air quality conditions.
Channel 11 spoke with the Pittsburgh International Airport about the haze. A spokesperson said there are no impacts on their operation at this time.
See more coverage below!
Picklesburgh continuing as planned, despite poor air quality
Day one of Picklesburgh 2026 went on as planned despite the smoke and haze from Canadian wildfires that blanketed the region.
Thousands of people flocked to Downtown Pittsburgh and the North Shore for all things pickle.
“We’re selling smoked pickles today,” one vendor joked.
We spoke to a number of people. They told us they were doing fine so far.
“Getting a little smoked out but it’s all good,” Stanley Ference of Sewickley said.
“Not too bad. There’s a wind going,” Alicia Trucco said. Despite the heat and smoke, she was dressed as a pickle.
Vendors said they were being careful.
Doctor weighs in on health concerns amid poor air quality
Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek spoke with Dr. Tariq Cheema, a pulmonologist with Allegheny Health Network.
“It’s unhealthy for everyone, regardless if you have lung disease or not, because it acts as an irritant to your lungs because you’re inhaling the smoke,” Cheema said. “But the high-risk populations, the folks who have asthma, COPD, chronic lung disease, so for them it is a bigger issue because it can definitely cause exasperation of the disease and flares, which in some cases can lead to hospitalizations.”
He said his office received calls all day about this smoke, asking for advice.
“If you have an increased cough, if you feel more short of breath, if you’re wheezing, contact your doctors,” he said.
His advice is to stay inside and limit the time you do have to be outside while the smoke is here.
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