Residents across New York City awoke to a thin brown haze, the smell of smoke Saturday, and worsening air quality as a nearby wildfire and chilly morning temperatures led to an inversion that trapped smoke near the ground.

A series of wildfires ravaging parts of rain-starved New Jersey were sending plumes of smoke across the Hudson River and into New York, leaving much of the city blanketed in an eerie haze. At least six fires,