MILWAUKEE — An air quality advisory from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources remains in effect through noon on Friday as wildfire smoke continues to move into the area from Canada.
The DNR has decided to extend the Air Quality Alert until Friday at Noon. Although smoke is slowly moving out & there will be an improvement in AQI in the next several hours, Unhealthy to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Air quality is forecast across the region.
As of 12:30 p.m. Thursday, the Air Quality is still considered "Unhealthy" in Milwaukee County
Latest information from the Wisconsin DNR on air quality:
The DNR said the smoky conditions are a dynamic situation and could change rapidly over the next few days. View the DNR's air quality map.
According to the DNR:
We've issued a statewide multi-day air quality advisory due to another round of smoke from Canadian wildfires. The current advisory is in effect through noon on Thursday, June 29. The most significant air quality and health impacts are anticipated between noon on Tuesday, June 27 and noon on Wednesday, June 28.
Along with @dhs.wi, we're recommending that everyone keep outdoor activities light and short. Watch for symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath as a sign to take a break or move indoors.
Here are a few more ways to protect yourself from the smoke over the next few days, along with steps to make a DIY air purifier.
[Image Description:
Image 1: A graphic with the title "Protect Yourself From Smoke" and 9 tiles that say monitor air quality, close windows and doors, use N95 masks, carb-certified air cleaner, monitor your health, avoid vacuuming, avoid gas-powered appliances, run A/C on recirculate with a new filter and DIY temporary air purifier.
Image 2: A graphic with the title "DIY Temporary Air Purifier" and a header that says "Materials." 20 by 20-inch air filter (MERV rating 13 or higher), duct tape, 20 by 20-inch box fan (2012 model or newer). A header that says "Assembly". 1 - Duct tape the air filter to the back of the box fan. 2 - Check the filter for the direction of air flow (marked on the sides of the air filter). 3 - Replace air filters as needed.]
How to create your own home filter:
Important links from the DNR:
The map above shows the air quality across Southeast Wisconsin as of 7:45 a.m. Thursday. Milwaukee County air quality remains in the "unhealthy" category and Waukesha County moved into the "unhealthy" category.
Some of the worst air quality in the world in the Milwaukee area
According to the DNR's air quality map on Tuesday, Milwaukee and Waukesha counties experienced some of the worst air quality in the country and the world, as the haze blew through from Canada.
Breaking News: Waukesha Air Quality now considered "Hazardous" at 323. I never thought we'd see air quality this poor in SE Wisconsin. This is crazy stuff. #wiwx #weather #WildfireSmoke #Canadianwildfires pic.twitter.com/sZXV1LGm6A
— Brian Niznansky (@BrianNizTMJ4) June 27, 2023
Waukesha now very close to "hazardous" air quality with an Air Quality index of 294! Currently, worst air quality in the country. #AirQuality #wildfiresmoke #Canadianwildfires pic.twitter.com/7sSwBh1grV
— Brian Niznansky (@BrianNizTMJ4) June 27, 2023
Forecast from TMJ4 Meteorologist Brendan Johnson
Smoke & haze continue to drift through southern Wisconsin. "Unhealthy" air quality was noted in Milwaukee County early Thursday morning. Smoke will persist through today - keeping the air quality in the "Unhealthy" category through this afternoon. Air quality improvement is expected tonight and into Friday.
Scattered storms were also drifting through the region early Thursday. The strongest storms have the potential to generate hail and gusty winds. Morning activity should wane after sunrise. Another round of thunderstorms is possible later during the afternoon. While the severe threat remains low, the strongest storms will be capable of producing hail and gusty winds. Afternoon storms may take shape in a line and move to the SE into the evening hours. Storms would help to clear the air of smoke!
Each of the upcoming 7-days features a chance for rain & storms. A washout is not expected on any given day, but scattered showers/storms could impact outdoor plans. Weekend storms are anticipated to take place south of Wisconsin. That said, there is a potential for some rain/storms to clip the State Line region. Any cloud cover tossed over the region as a result of nearby storms will impact high temperatures.
- Check The Interactive Radar
- 7-Day Forecast
- Active Weather Alerts
- 5 ways you can protect yourself from wildfire smoke
Canceled events in Milwaukee area on Wednesday June 28 / Thursday June 29
- Heart(beats) of the City postponed Wednesday due to the haze. Limited food trucks will be available on Water Street at Red Arrow Park for lunches from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Event resumes July 12 with Alyssia Dominquez. More info here.
- Concert in the Park: According to a social media post, "Due to air quality concerns, this evening’s Concert in the Park, featuring Christopher’s Project at Ascension St. Joseph is canceled. The concert was scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Our next concert is July 12. Attached and below are more details about the concert series."
Information from the Milwaukee Health Department
On Tuesday, the City of Milwaukee Health Department issued a statement emphasizing Milwaukee is in the Purple “Very Unhealthy” category in the Air Quality Index. City health officials recommend people do the following during the smog:
- Avoid all outdoor activities and stay inside as much as possible
- Close your windows and doors
- Implement high-efficiency air filters indoors, if available
- Wear an N95 mask if you have to be outside, especially those with existing medical conditions
- Check on your friends, family, and neighbors, especially older adults and pregnant people, to ensure their safety
Information from Milwaukee Public Schools
According to MPS' website, "An Air Quality Advisory due to smoke is in effect until noon Thursday. MPS summer programs are operating as scheduled. We will adjust programs as needed. We encourage parents/guardians to be diligent and monitor air quality reports before sending their children to any of our outdoor programs. As always, the safety and well-being of our staff and participants remain our highest priority. Thank you and be safe!"
Canadian wildfires are causing the worst air in the US in cities like Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit
By The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — Drifting smoke from the ongoing wildfires across Canada is creating curtains of haze and raising air quality concerns throughout the Great Lakes region and in parts of the central and eastern United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov site showed parts of Illinois, lower Michigan and southern Wisconsin had the worst air quality in the U.S. on Tuesday afternoon, and Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee had air quality categorized as “very unhealthy."
In Minnesota, a record 23rd air quality alert was issued Tuesday through late Wednesday night across much of the state, as smoky skies obscure the skylines of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy issued an air quality alert for the entire state. Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources also issued an air quality advisory for the state.
In Chicago, officials urged young people, older adults and residents with health issues to spend more time indoors.
“Just driving into the zoo ... you could just see around the buildings, kind of just haze," said Shelly Woinowski, who was visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
Some day care centers in the Chicago area have told parents that their children will remain indoors Tuesday due to the poor air quality, while one youth sports club says it adjusted its activities to add more time indoors.
“As these unsafe conditions continue, the city will continue to provide updates and take swift action to ensure that vulnerable individuals have the resources they need to protect themselves and their families," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a release.
In the Milwaukee area, Flight for Life Wisconsin was unable to respond to a motorcycle-van crash because the Federal Aviation Administration requires 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) visibility, and the visibility was reduced to three-quarters to 1.5 miles (1.2-2.4 kilometers) because of the hazy skies, Executive Director Leif Erickson said.
Fires in northern Quebec and low pressure over the eastern Great Lakes are sending smoke through northern Michigan, and across southern Wisconsin and Chicago, said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Jackson added that a north wind would push the smoke further south, moving into Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky later Tuesday and overnight.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reported Monday that 76,129 square kilometers (29,393 square miles) of land including forests has burned across Canada since Jan. 1. That exceeds the previous record set in 1989 of 75,596 square kilometers (29,187 square miles), according to the National Forestry Database.
Nationally, there are currently 490 fires burning, with 255 of them considered to be out of control.
Even recent rainfall in Quebec likely won’t be enough to extinguish the wildfires ravaging the northern part of that province, but the wet weather could give firefighters a chance to get ahead of the flames, officials said Tuesday.
Nearly a quarter of the fires burning in Canada are in Quebec. Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said he expects rain to stop falling by Wednesday morning in the regions most affected by forest fires.
Earlier this month, massive fires burning stretches of Canadian forests blanketed the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region, turning the air yellowish gray, and prompting warnings for people to stay inside and keep windows closed.
The small particles in wildfire smoke can irritate the eyes, nose and throat, and can affect the heart and lungs, making it harder to breathe. Health officials say it’s important to limit outdoor activities as much as possible to avoid breathing in these particles.
“Until the fires are out, there’s a risk,” Jackson said. “If there’s any north component to the wind, there’s a chance it’ll be smoky.”
In early June, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that hundreds of American firefighters and support personnel have been in Canada since May, and called attention to the fires as a reminder of the impacts of climate change.
The warming planet will produce hotter and longer heat waves, making for bigger, smokier fires, according to Joel Thornton, professor and chair of the department of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.
Priti Marwah, who was beginning a run along the city's lakefront, describes the haze in Chicago Tuesday as “bad.”
“Like, you can smell it bad," she said. "I run a hundred miles a week, so this is going to be dangerous today. You can feel it ... just even parking right there and coming out, I can feel it in my lungs.”
Smoke from the wildfires moved into Minnesota late Monday, and ground-level smoke is expected to linger across southern, east-central and northeastern Minnesota. That includes the Twin Cities area, up to the northeast corner of the state and down to the southwest and southeast corners.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency tweeted that Tuesday marked the 23rd air quality alert in Minnesota this year, breaking the previous record of 21 in 2021. Minnesota usually averages two or three alerts in a season.
St. Paul recorded the worst air quality in the United States two weeks ago due to smoke from Canadian wildfires. As of midday Tuesday, the air quality was rated “unhealthy” across eastern Minnesota from the Canadian border to the Iowa border.
The MPCA said a cold front will move across Minnesota on Wednesday, bringing cleaner air from the west across the region by early Thursday.
But on Tuesday, the coming respite meant little to Dan Daley, a resident of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.
“It’s kind of miserable some days because you can’t spend a lot of time outside,” he said.
Daley said he smelled – and tasted – smoke in the air when he left the house this morning. He saw a hazy sky and wondered if that will be the norm for future summers in the area. When the air quality makes it unhealthy to be outside, Daley struggles to do the things he enjoys like hiking, camping and walking around town.
He worries that people in other parts of the country who haven’t experienced days of bad air quality will think it’s not a big deal. “If they think the smoke’s not that bad, they should come up here and see it for themselves” Daley said.
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Ahmed reported from Minneapolis. AP reporter Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Corey Williams in Detroit and Ken Kusmer in Indianapolis contributed to the story.
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