Smoke moving south from the massive Canadian wildfires is expected to ease over the New Jersey region ahead of Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, with meteorologists saying thunderstorms moving through the area should help improve air quality before kickoff.
Although conditions are forecast to improve around the New York/New Jersey Stadium, air quality alerts remained in place on Saturday across large parts of the United States as wildfire smoke continued to spread beyond the Canadian border.
United States President Donald Trump, who is expected to attend the World Cup final, once again blamed Canada for the smoke affecting American cities.
Trump also warned that tariffs could be considered in response to the cross-border pollution, prompting a sharp reaction from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who described the proposal as both unacceptable and shortsighted.
Despite heavy rain and thunderstorms sweeping through the area, skies over the stadium continued to be covered by a dense gray haze that has lingered for several days.
The severe weather also led to flash flood warnings and disrupted preparations for the final, forcing Spain to cancel their final on-field training session before taking on Argentina in Sunday’s summit clash.
Once the rain stopped, Dutch visitor Joost Timpers and his two sons joined other fans outside the stadium, stopping to take photographs of the stadium, according to the Associated Press.
Although they were unable to secure tickets for the final, the family cycled for more than an hour from their hotel simply to experience the atmosphere and see the stadium in person.
Timpers said he believed both players and spectators would cope well, even if the air quality did not improve significantly before the match.
“We’re not specialists when it comes to air quality, but we’ve experienced the conditions ourselves,” he said. “To be honest, it didn’t feel any different from riding a bike in the Netherlands or anywhere else.”
Thunderstorms expected to clear smokes out of Northeast
Thunderstorms that swept through the region on Saturday are expected to push most of the wildfire smoke out of the Northeast before Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Tyler Roys.
“There could be some lingering smoke that would make things hazy, but very faint,” he said as per The Associated Press.
“In terms of the thickest smoke, the smoke that has really been eye-popping and leads to poor air quality, that is not expected across New York City or much of the Northeast,” he added.
Jeff Berardelli, WFLA-TV Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist based out of Tampa, Florida, has said that the smoke “sweep the atmosphere clean,” with the fans in the stadium likely to feel only a thin amount of smoke.
Air quality is forecast to improve significantly by Sunday in East Rutherford, with the Air Quality Index expected to shift from the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category recorded on Saturday to the “moderate” range.
Under those conditions, health risks for the general public are considered minimal.
“It won’t be dangerous anymore,” said Berardelli. “It’s going to be dramatically better,” he added.
Argentina are looking to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend the FIFA World Cup title. Spain, on the other hand, are looking to clinch only their second FIFA World Cup title.
Spain qualified for the final with a 2-0 win over France in the semi-final, whereas Argentina came from behind to beat England 2-1 in the other semi-final.
#Good #news #FIFA #World #Cup #final #Thunderstorms #clear #wildfire #smoke #ahead #Spain #Argentina #match
