Business

Thick Wildfire Smoke Chokes Nation’s Capital and Mid-Atlantic as Severe Storms Threaten Region Saturday

Published

8 hours ago

18 July 2026

Extreme Wildfire Smoke Sparks US-Canada Political Clash as Air Quality

Dense wildfire smoke continued blanketing the Mid-Atlantic region early Saturday, pushing Washington, D.C., to the brink of becoming the world’s most polluted major city, as forecasters warned the smoky conditions would soon collide with a separate threat of severe thunderstorms moving through the region.

Air quality readings in Washington registered at 175 between 4 and 5 a.m. Saturday, placing the city in the unhealthy to very unhealthy range for the 30th consecutive hour. As of 5 a.m., the nation’s capital ranked as the second most polluted major city in the world, trailing only Toronto, according to tracking data cited by meteorologist Ben Noll.

The smoke originated from massive wildfires burning across Canada, which have spread across large portions of the United States in recent days. Forecasters expected the dense smoke to linger across the Mid-Atlantic through Saturday morning before gradually clearing during the afternoon, as southerly winds ahead of an approaching storm system began pushing the smoke back toward the Northeast and New England. Cities including Philadelphia, New York and Pittsburgh all reported unhealthy or very unhealthy air quality conditions early Saturday, with forecasters projecting the smoke would reach Boston by late morning.

Complicating the situation further, strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop across the region beginning Saturday afternoon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center issued an enhanced risk rating, a Level 3 out of 5, covering a stretch of the country that includes Buffalo, Cleveland, Washington, Philadelphia and New York. While damaging winds represent the primary threat from the approaching storms, forecasters also flagged some potential for tornadoes within the risk area.

The combination of smoke and severe weather is expected to create what forecasters described as a double dose of hazardous conditions. Rainfall can initially intensify the smell of wildfire smoke by dragging smoky air down from higher levels of the atmosphere toward the ground, and can also leave a sooty residue coating cars, windows and other outdoor surfaces. Once steadier rain develops, however, it typically begins washing smoke particles out of the air entirely, offering eventual relief even as the storms themselves bring their own risks.

By Saturday night, forecasters expect much of the current smoke plume to have cleared out of the eastern United States, though new plumes are not expected to be far behind. A separate batch of smoke from the same Canadian fires, currently drifting toward Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin on Saturday, is forecast to reach Chicago and Detroit sometime between Saturday night and Sunday. That smoke is projected to continue drifting eastward into Sunday, though near-ground concentrations are expected to remain relatively low along the corridor stretching from Washington to New York.

That includes East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the World Cup final is scheduled to kick off Sunday at 3 p.m. Forecasters currently expect largely dry conditions in the area for the match, with smoke concentrations near the ground anticipated to stay comparatively low despite the broader regional smoke event still unfolding through the weekend.

Looking further ahead, changing wind patterns and additional stormy weather expected early next week could help keep the worst of the smoke away from the eastern United States. Several rounds of rain are forecast across the primary wildfire zone in western Ontario in the coming days, a development that should help reduce smoke concentrations at the source and potentially limit the intensity of future smoke plumes reaching the U.S. compared with what the region has experienced this week. Even so, forecasters noted that portions of the current smoke plume may continue drifting as far as Greenland, Iceland and the Azores through early next week, underscoring just how widely this particular smoke event has spread.

The connection between this wildfire season and the broader effects of climate change has drawn attention from researchers tracking Canada’s fire activity. A wildfire analysis posted Friday by climate scientist Zeke Hausfather found that while lightning strikes are responsible for the majority of Canada’s burned forest area, accounting for roughly 71% of the area burned between 1990 and 2023, surges in Canadian wildfire activity have tracked closely alongside rising temperatures.

Hausfather explained that warming plays a direct role in fire risk because warmer air pulls more moisture out of vegetation, drying out trees and grasses and making it easier for fires to both ignite and spread rapidly once started. He noted that the same fuel-drying dynamic has also been linked to a doubling of forest area burned across the western United States. “The biggest fire years are almost universally hotter and drier,” Hausfather wrote.

Hausfather also addressed the role of fire fuel management strategies, commonly known as prescribed burns, in mitigating wildfire risk. While he said such strategies hold real value in areas surrounding populated communities, he argued they offer little practical benefit across the vast, remote boreal forests where much of Canada’s current wildfire activity is concentrated, since those forests have largely never been logged, thinned or actively managed, and instead experience infrequent but high-intensity fires that occur in natural cycles. “You cannot have a fuel-buildup from forest mismanagement in a forest you were never managing,” he said.

Despite the severity of the smoke’s impact on air quality across North America this summer, Hausfather noted that this year’s Canadian fire season currently appears unlikely to surpass the record set in 2023 for total land area burned. Even so, he emphasized that the season has still produced a serious impact on air pollution across the continent, largely because of how weather patterns have directed the smoke toward densely populated areas. “While overall area burned is the climate-linked trend, who breathes the smoke on a given week in July is mostly driven by the weather,” Hausfather said.

With additional smoke plumes expected to continue drifting into the U.S. from Canada’s ongoing fires in the days ahead, meteorologists said they will continue monitoring both the wildfire activity itself and the shifting weather patterns that determine which parts of the country bear the brunt of the resulting smoke on any given day.

Business

How SpaceX Stock Became a Short-Seller Favorite

Published

12 minutes ago

19 July 2026

NewsAdmin

How SpaceX Stock Became a Short-Seller Favorite

Business

The Bottom Fishing Club – Mattel Stock: Stronger Upside Than Street Expects (NASDAQ:MAT)

Published

18 minutes ago

19 July 2026

NewsAdmin

The Bottom Fishing Club - Mattel Stock: Stronger Upside Than Street Expects (NASDAQ:MAT)

Nationally ranked stock picker for 30+ years. Victory Formation and Bottom Fishing Club quant-sort pioneer…..Paul Franke is a private investor and speculator with 39 years of trading experience. Mr. Franke was Editor and Publisher of the Maverick Investor® newsletter during the 1990s, widely quoted by CNBC®, Barron’s®, the Washington Post® and Investor’s Business Daily®. Paul was consistently ranked among top investment advisors nationally for stock market and commodity macro views by Timer Digest® during the 1990s. Mr. Franke was ranked #1 in the Motley Fool® CAPS stock picking contest during parts of 2008 and 2009, out of 60,000+ portfolios. Mr. Franke was Director of Research at Quantemonics Investing® from 2010-13, running several model portfolios on the Covestor.com mirror platform (including the least volatile, lowest beta, fully-invested equity portfolio on the site). As of April 2026, he was ranked in the Top 4% of bloggers by TipRanks® for 12-month stock picking performance on suggestions made over the last five years.A contrarian stock selection style crossed with daily algorithm analysis of fundamental and technical data have been developed into a system for finding stocks, nicknamed the “Victory Formation.” Supply/demand imbalances signaled by specific stock price and volume movements are a critical part of this formula for success. Mr. Franke suggests investors use 10% or 20% stop-loss levels on individual choices and a diversified approach of owning at least 50 well positioned favorites to achieve regular stock market outperformance. “Bottom Fishing Club” articles focus on deep value candidates or stocks experiencing a major reversal in technical momentum to the upside. “Volume Breakout Report” articles discuss positive trend changes backed by strong price and volume trading action.

Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MAT, DIS either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

All opinions expressed herein are not investment recommendations and are not meant to be relied upon in investment decisions. The author is not acting in an investment advisor capacity and is not a registered investment advisor. The author recommends investors consult a qualified investment advisor before making any trade. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates herein are forward-looking statements based upon certain assumptions that should not be construed as indicative of actual events that will occur. This article is not an investment research report but an opinion written at a point in time. The author’s opinions expressed herein address only a small cross-section of data related to an investment in securities mentioned. Any analysis presented is based on incomplete information and is limited in scope and accuracy. The information and data in this article are obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but their accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed. The author expressly disclaims all liability for errors and omissions in the service and for the use or interpretation by others of information contained herein. Any and all opinions, estimates, and conclusions are based on the author’s best judgment at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. The author undertakes no obligation to correct, update, or revise the information in this document or to otherwise provide any additional materials. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

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Business

LyondellBasell: The Iran Conflict Has Interrupted The Evolution Process (Rating Upgrade)

Published

25 minutes ago

19 July 2026

NewsAdmin

LyondellBasell: The Iran Conflict Has Interrupted The Evolution Process (Rating Upgrade)

Business

Baxter Stock: The Chart Points Higher, Valuation & Growth Are Less Appealing (NYSE:BAX)

Published

31 minutes ago

19 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Baxter Stock: The Chart Points Higher, Valuation & Growth Are Less Appealing (NYSE:BAX)

Taylor Farms preparing recall amid cyclospora outbreak probe

The FDA and CDC are investigating Taco Bell’s lettuce supplier as consumers in four states are urged to avoid shredded lettuce.

A sample of shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico has tested positive for Cyclospora, federal health officials said, as the company expanded a multistate recall tied to a growing multistate outbreak.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the contaminated sample was collected through targeted import surveillance and was not part of Taylor Farms’ current recall. The agency said the positive lot has been detained and the California-based produce company is working to determine whether any of the implicated lettuce remains in commerce or in consumers’ homes.

The positive test result comes after Taylor Farms announced it was voluntarily recalling iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico, while removing all such lettuce from the U.S. market, because of potential Cyclospora contamination.

“We are actively removing the implicated products,” Taylor Farms said in its recall notice. “The company has stopped receiving product from the implicated lot, suspended distribution of the iceberg lettuce from Central Mexico, notified our customers, and we are continuing to work with the FDA, CDC, and state authorities.”

TAYLOR FARMS PREPARING RECALL, DENIES BRANDED SALADS TIED TO OUTBREAK

Packages of Taylor Farms salad greens displayed on shelves at a Safeway grocery store in California

Packages of Taylor Farms salad greens are displayed at a Safeway store in Kings Beach, California, on July 16, 2026. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The recall covers 12-ounce and 24-ounce bags of Marketside iceberg salad, as well as 8-ounce and 16-ounce bags of Marketside shredded iceberg lettuce distributed between June 29 and July 16 with “best if used by” dates ranging from July 18 through Aug. 3, according to the FDA. The recall also includes numerous products distributed to foodservice customers.

The affected lettuce was distributed in 27 states. The recall follows the FDA’s announcement Thursday that Taco Bell would stop using lettuce from a supplier linked to the multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak, which has sickened 1,644 people and hospitalized 94 across five states. No deaths have been reported.

Taco Bell said it voluntarily removed potentially affected lettuce from the supplier in select states where illnesses have been reported.

OHIO MAN SUES TACO BELL FRANCHISEE, CLAIMING CYCLOSPORA INFECTION LEFT HIM SICK FOR 2 WEEKS

The FDA said Taco Bell will stop using lettuce from a supplier linked to a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Taylor Farms had previously said its branded salad products were not associated with the outbreak.

In a statement posted to Instagram on Friday, the company reiterated that none of its branded salad kits are implicated and said it voluntarily removed iceberg lettuce sourced through its Taylor Farms de Mexico operation after receiving information from the FDA.

The FDA said its trace-back investigation Taylor Farms de Mexico as the supplier of shredded iceberg lettuce that was used at Taco Bell restaurants where infected customers reported eating before becoming ill. The agency said not every Taco Bell restaurant in the five states received lettuce from the supplier.

FDA SAYS TACO BELL TO STOP USING LETTUCE SUPPLIER LINKED TO MULTISTATE PARASITE OUTBREAK

Taylor Farms salad greens displayed on a grocery store shelf at a Safeway location

Packages of Taylor Farms salad greens are displayed at a Safeway store in Kings Beach, California, on July 16, 2026. ( Justin Sullivan/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The agency is investigating illnesses in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, and has advised consumers in those states not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell restaurants.

According to the FDA, Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that can cause severe diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, fatigue and other gastrointestinal symptoms.

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The agency urged anyone who purchased the recalled lettuce to throw it away immediately or return it to the place of purchase for a refund.

FOX Business’ Brittany Miller contributed to this report.