Good air quality on Long Island now, though smoke from Canadian wildfires could be back later today

What a difference three days make. But the region isn’t free of smoke yet.

New York’s air quality is no longer the world’s worst because of Canadian wildfire smoke. Although some of the pollution could blow back later Saturday, it’ll be nothing like what the region saw earlier in the week.

As of 10 a.m., the air quality on Long Island and New York City was “good,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s airnow.gov website. The quality is expected to become “moderate” later in the day, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s forecast.

No longer does the government recommend staying inside or wearing a mask outdoors, the advice earlier in the week when the skies were a misty orange and the air perilous to lungs and health.

The thickest smoke from wayward Canadian wildfires has moved on, but the forecast shows the potential for a return later Saturday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Connolly.

Right now, the smoke is lingering over the Atlantic and southwest — in south, west and central New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The winds are likely to blow some of that smoke back to Long Island and nearby.

“There is a potential for a little to come back ashore on Long Island late today into tonight as the winds begin to shift around in the south,” he said. “We’re not expecting thick concentrations as we had before. But it’s possible for some smoke to return to the area.”

He added: “Even if it does back in we’re not excepting anything as dense as we had.”

Canada is battling the worst wildfire season in the country’s history. In Quebec alone, where there is record heat and drought, more than 160 blazes are reported.

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.