Wildfire smoke updates: CDC issues health alert on wildfire smoke exposure

New York will be rolling out phone alerts to remind residents to take precautions amid the poor air quality, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday.

The Air Quality Index is currently in the "unhealthy" category in Rochester and Buffalo.

"The truth is, there is no end in sight," Hochul said at news conference, noting the conditions could linger off and on through the summer. "This is the new normal for New Yorkers."

Phone alerts will be sent in areas where the Air Quality Index is above 200 for one hour or longer. Announcements will also be made on mass transit, where hundreds of thousands of masks will be handed out.

Hochul said it is too early to know about the air quality over the July 4 holiday.

“We don't know what is going to happen beyond the next couple days -- today will be very bad, tomorrow will be very bad. We expect to see the winds start to dissipate over the next couple days. It is impossible for us at this point to predict the holiday celebrations," she said.

Jackie Bray, commissioner of New York's Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, added that it's "totally appropriate to keep the pools open today, totally appropriate for people to be out, as long as they don't fall into these sensitive groups."

-ABC News' Aaron Katersky

Columbus, Ohio, hit an Air Quality Index of 244 on Thursday morning, the highest reading ever for the city.

The AQI has since lowered to 169. Any number over 100 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

-ABC News' Jeremy Edwards

The Canadian wildfire smoke drifting into the United States is expected to largely dissipate by the weekend.

By Friday morning, the smoke is forecast to linger in the eastern Great Lakes from Detroit to Ohio, Pennsylvania, western New York state, down to Virginia and the Carolinas.

New York City is not expected to see much smoke, but skies over the Big Apple could still be a bit hazy due to the nearby plumes.

By Friday evening, the smoke will really begin to diminish in the East with lingering effects from New York to the Carolinas.

As of Thursday morning, 23 U.S. states are under air quality alerts from the Midwest to parts of the South and into the Northeast where wildfire smoke from neighboring Canada is creating hazy skies.

The worst-affected areas are currently from Wisconsin down to Tennessee and up to Virginia and even parts of Pennsylvania.

As the day develops, plumes of smoke are expected to linger over the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley and into the Appalachian Mountains. Some smoke might even make its way into the Mid-Atlantic and parts of New Jersey.

New York City will be largely spared from the heaviest smoke. An air quality alert was issued there only as a precaution. Most of the day will be sunny with perhaps a touch of haze due to the smoke nearby.