Philadelphia, state New Jersey: Latest News

PHILADELPHIA - Smoke from a wildfire more than 600 miles away is impacting the Delaware Valley, bringing hazy conditions to the area and prompting air quality alerts. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, more than 16,000 people have been forced to evacuate as a wildfire burns. Authorities say the fire has burned more than 25,000 acres of land and damaged about 200 homes. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the wildfires in a tweet, calling the situation "incredibly serious." Despite being hundreds of miles away, smoke from the burning wildfires is impacting the Delaware Valley. A wildfire burning in Nova Scotia has led to code orange air quality alerts in several New Jersey and Pennsylvania counties.In Chester County, the West Chester Fire Department is warning about hazy smoke and a burning odor in the air. Officials say there is no immediate threat to the area, but code orange air quality alerts have been issued for several counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Sensitive groups like children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions should limit time outside due to the smoke particles in the air. The smoke from the fire will also cause hazy skies and a vibrant-colored sunrise and sunset, according to FOX 29's Sue Serio. FOX 29's Sue Serio has your Wednesday morning weather forecast.

PHILADELPHIA - A highly unusual weather pattern is bringing critically dangerous wildfire conditions to a swath of the Northeast, including the Philadelphia and New Jersey area.Meanwhile, wildfire smoke from multiple blazes already burning across Canada has flooded the skies with renewed haze and poor air quality.A deep and dry layer of air moved into the Great Lakes Monday night and is spreading into parts of the Northeast on Tuesday, dropping the humidity to as low as 25% and bringing a swath of breezy, gusty winds.(FOX Weather)Meanwhile, an upper-level trough of low pressure is expected to trigger a round of "dry" thunderstorms across parts of the mid-Atlantic – common in the Desert Southwest but rare in the East.WHY DRY THUNDERSTORMS POSE WILDFIRE RISKSWith the dry air in place, any rain may evaporate before reaching the ground, meaning lightning strikes may come without any wetting rainfall. With recent dry weather leaving the ground parched, any lighting strike could start a fire that would have the potential for rapid spread amid the breezy and dry conditions.(FOX Weather)NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has issued a "critical" wildfire risk – a level 2 on its 3-rung scale for fire weather danger – for nearly 8 million people around the Philadelphia and southern New Jersey area.

PHILADELPHIA - Residents on both sides of the Delaware River have grown frustrated with the ground-shaking vibrations from ‘boom parties’ that locals say have become more common.‘Boom parties’ happen when large groups of people gather near the Delaware River and blast music from cars that are equipped with massive speakers. The vibrations shake nearby homes and the sound is strong enough to carry across the water to bother residents in neighboring states.Over the past several years, locals say the boom parties primarily happened on weekends.

CHERRY HILL, N.J. - The masks are off, but flu cases are up in April."We’re seeing more in the offices and emergency rooms than we saw the last two years combined," Dr. Eric Sztejman, with Virtua Health, Pulmonary Critical Care, stated.Dr. Sztejman says in the past week and a half, they’ve seen cases spike.

PHILADELPHIA - The National Weather Service confirmed six tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the peak of the storms Wednesday. NWS crews headed out to Mullica Hill, New Jersey where a confirmed tornado ripped through a number of homes and caused other destruction. The weather service is also surveying multiple other locations where there were reports and widespread damage.Confirmed "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes were located over Willow Grove, Washington Crossing in Pennsylvania and Woodbury, New Jersey.

PHILADELPHIA - The National Weather Service confirmed five tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania and New Jersey during the peak of the storms Wednesday. NWS crews headed out to Mullica Hill, New Jersey where a confirmed tornado ripped through a number of homes and caused other destruction. The weather service is also surveying multiple other locations where there were reports and widespread damage.Confirmed "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes were located over Willow Grove, Washington Crossing in Pennsylvania and Woodbury, New Jersey.

PHILADELPHIA - The National Weather Service will be surveying damage in a number of areas in Pennsylvania and New Jersey Thursday for possible tornadoes.NWS crews will be heading out to Mullica Hill, New Jersey where a confirmed tornado ripped through a number of homes and caused other destruction. They’ll also be surveying parts of Salem County up through Camden County. Confirmed "large and extremely dangerous" tornadoes were located over Willow Grove, Washington Crossing in Pennsylvania and Woodbury, New Jersey.

PHILADELPHIA - We are officially two weeks until Election Day and there are questions in our area surrounding mail-in ballots. Amanda Weissman, of Voorhees, New Jersey, says she dropped off her mail-in ballot at a secure ballot box at the Voorhees Town Center a little more than two weeks ago."I've checked every day since not seeing the ballot has been received," she said.FULL COVERAGE: 2020 ELECTIONCamden County Board of Elections Commissioner Rich Ambrosino says the office is slamming to process ballots as quickly as possible."If someone concerned about whether a ballot has been received.