Smoke from a Canadian wildfire began moving through parts of the Philadelphia region on Tuesday, July 14, and will only get worse Wednesday as the fifth heatwave of the summer begins. Wildfire smoke from fires burning in Ontario, Canada, began to pass over the Philly area Tuesday afternoon with t he smoke high up in the altitude. An air quality alert is in effect for a portion of New Jersey due to high ozone levels on Tuesday. The smoke from the fires – which are burning 1100 miles away – will push near the surface Wednesday night into Thursday. Expect our air quality to worsen locally. Sensitive groups should stay aware and limit time outdoors. Our heat alert remains in place for Wednesday so the NBC10 First Alert Weather team has issued a First Alert. Temperatures reached over 90 degrees on Tuesday and on Wednesday we should see triple digits along the Interstate 95 corridor. Wednesday will be the worst day of this week’s heat wave with high humidity leading to feels like temperatures up to 110 degrees. While rain is not expected for most of us, a mainly dry cold front approaching our region could trigger an afternoon or evening shower or storm up in the Poconos or the Lehigh Valley. Thursday will still be hot in the upper 90s but with lower humidity compared to Wednesday. Friday looks to be our final day of the heatwave with partly cloudy skies and a high of 94 degrees but turning less humid through the day and bringing some relief. Showers and thunderstorms arrive for the weekend Saturday and Sunday bringing our temperatures back down into the 80s but also bringing the potential for heavy rain and strong thunderstorms. Get the latest weather updates by downloading the NBC10 app and following the NBC10 First Alert Weather team. ...read more read less