Why is the sun red? Wildfire smoke. Here's how it recolors the skies.

People in New York City and across the northeastern United States woke up Tuesday morning to an unusual sight. Depending on the time, early risers reported witnessing either the moon or the sun bearing a reddish glow. It was not the first time in recent weeks that both the sun and the moon have turned red in skies over various parts of the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest, as wildfires burning in eastern and western Canada continue to send smoke down the border.

Canada is experiencing one of its worst wildfire seasons on record, with more than 6.7 million acres already burned since the beginning of the year, officials said during a news conference last week. The blazes are especially severe right now in the country's eastern provinces, with wildfires raging in Quebec and Nova Scotia that forced roughly 14,000 people to evacuate, CBC News reported. 

Winds rotating around a stationary, low-pressure system hovering over the eastern provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, known as the Canadian Maritimes, are directing smoke from the wildfires toward the northeastern U.S., Matt Sitkowski, the science editor in chief at The Weather Channel, told CBS News on Tuesday.