The smell of smoke in the air tonight isn’t your imagination — Canadian wildfire smoke drifting south out of south-central Canada and Minnesota has blanketed the Finger Lakes, and Air Quality Alerts are in effect regionwide through early Thursday morning. Most of the smoke is riding aloft, but surface visibility may reduce at times overnight, and the acrid smell is expected to persist.
Tonight’s lows will settle near 74°F across most of the region, with no frost risk and no meaningful precipitation. The cold front that nudged south through the area this afternoon brought a brief low chance of showers but left conditions mostly dry. Overnight skies stay partly cloudy with a light northwest breeze around 8 mph.
Looking ahead to Thursday, the smoke story continues — NWS forecasters note temperatures could run as much as 10°F cooler than they otherwise would under thicker smoke, which is why Thursday’s Geneva high is penciled in at just 86°F despite the current heat. Canandaigua and Ithaca should see similar moderation. Air Quality Alerts for most Finger Lakes counties expire by Thursday at midnight or 3:45 AM.
The cleaner, more comfortable stretch runs Friday before unsettled weather returns this weekend — showers and thunderstorms become likely Friday night into Saturday.
Weather Center forecast for the Finger Lakes region. Sourced from NWS, Open-Meteo, NWS Area Forecast Discussion, and USGS stream-flow data. Updated 6 AM, noon, and 6 PM ET.