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player ready...An Air Pollution Action Day was called Wednesday morning for the Chicago area and is in effect until midnight, weather officials said.
Officials issued an alert Wednesday as air quality was expected to reach unhealthy levels in all of Wisconsin until noon Thursday, but the coverage area was expanded to include parts of northeast Illinois.
The action day was called because conditions are such that widespread ozone and or particulate levels are expected to be at or above the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category of the Air Quality Index for multiple days. Wildfire smoke is expected to continue to have an impact on particulate levels with the daily 24-hour AQI forecast expected to remain in the USG category today and Thursday.
Sensitive groups should consider moving all activities inside especially those with asthma or people with heart disease. Officials ask those with health conditions to keep outdoor activities shorter and less intense.
An air quality advisory also was called for all of east-central, south-central and southeast Wisconsin.
Current conditions at O’Hare International Airport are light rain, fog and drizzle at 66 degrees, and farther south at Midway Airport conditions are overcast at 61 degrees. On Wednesday, there is a 50 to 90% chance of rain with temperatures in the low 60s, officials said.
Since Wednesday, this was the first of warnings for the Chicago area as Canadian wildfires continue.
Smoke from the wildfires carried another day of poor air quality south of the Canadian border to the Midwest, where conditions in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were rated very unhealthy Tuesday. The smoke started making air quality worse in the eastern U.S. on Wednesday.
A few thunderstorms are expected this afternoon southeast of Valparaiso to the Pontiac line, weather officials said. An isolated severe thunderstorm or two with locally damaging winds to 60 mph is also a possibility.
Air quality worsens in eastern US as Canadian wildfire smoke hangs over Midwest