With ongoing wildfires in Georgia, smoke has been spreading across much of the southeast.
We had an air quality alert Thursday for part of our area, but let's look at what effects we will see for Friday and into the first half of the weekend.
Other WRAL Top Stories
This map is a look, as of Friday morning, at the ongoing wildfire situation across the southeast.
You can see an area from northern portions of the Florida peninsula through southeast Georgia with a higher concentration of wildfires.
The worsening drought plays a big factor in fueling the wildfires.
Exceptional drought conditions, which is the highest tier on the drought monitor, stretches from Statesboro, G.A. southwest through Valdosta and into eastern portions of the Florida panhandle including Tallahassee and areas just west of Jacksonville and Gainesville.
In addition, you'll notice that the cluster of wildfires follows a path close to that of Hurricane Helene which moved through the region in September of 2024. Downed trees and other debris are helping to fuel fires in this area.
Surface winds continue out of the south and southwest, so smoke will continue to move into parts of North and South Carolina over the next couple of days. Upper-level winds are gradually shifting, though, as our next trough approaches, so the air quality concerns won't be as widespread.
We will still have moderate air quality across much of the state today and tomorrow. Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties have a code orange alert as the air may be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Both Friday and Saturday, even though our air quality won't see huge impacts, you may notice some hazy skies as smoke continues to gradually move in our direction.
The cold front that will bring us a good rain chance later Saturday into early Sunday will allow for our winds to shift to being out of the north.
This will bring air quality improvements to end the weekend.
