Smoke from Canadian wildfires creating hazy skies in Pittsburgh area

PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) -- Smoke from wildfires in western Canada could be seen in Pittsburgh Wednesday morning, creating a hazy sky even though it's a cloudless day. 

The National Weather Service said high altitude smoke is being blown into our area by winds aloft. 

NWS Cleveland chimed in saying smoke from the wildfires can be seen on the visible satellite imagery covering much of northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. 

KDKA First Alert Meteorologist Ray Petelin recorded a timelapse from Cranberry showing the sun rising and shining through a blanket of haze.

The NWS said it's been a very active and early start to wildfire season in western Canada. 

On Sunday, officials in Alberta said there were 108 active fires in the province and the number of evacuees grew to about 29,000, up from approximately 24,000 Saturday, when a provincewide state of emergency was declared.

Two out-of-control wildfires in neighboring British Columbia also caused some people to leave their homes, and officials warned that they expected high winds to cause the blazes to grow bigger in the next few days.

A third fire in British Columbia was burning out of control 700 kilometers (430 miles) to the south, in the Teare Creek region, and some residents near the village of McBride were evacuated.