Dirty rain, a combination of water and particles, is a possibility on Saturday as storms blow through and leftover wildfire smoke from Canada lingers in the air, Joel Dreessen, a program manager for the Maryland Department of the Environment’s air monitoring group, told The Baltimore Sun.
Storm clouds forming around the smoke in the atmosphere could create dirty rain, but it is more commonly formed with larger particles compared to the smoke’s fine particulate matter.
Dreessen predicts the smoke will lessen by the time thunderstorms roll through, lowering the chance of dirty rain.
The smoke has been an ongoing issue over the past week, with Marylanders grappling with the poor air quality.
The majority of Maryland faced a Code Purple air quality alert Friday, one of the worst instances since 2023.
Wildfire smoke can contain particulate matter, which can settle into lungs and airways because of its size — nearly 30 times smaller than the width of human hair, Dr. Nidhi Kotwal, a pediatric pulmonologist at the University of Maryland Golisano Children’s Hospital, said in a statement.
Officials recommended Friday that Marylanders, especially those with underlying medical conditions, stay indoors as the smoke shrouds the state.
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