How Smoke Is Affecting IL As Northeast Suffers ‘Code Red’ Air Quality

ILLINOIS — Since last month, parts of the U.S. including Illinois have experienced poor air quality thanks to wildfire smoke blowing in from Canada.

But while the Northeast suffers unhealthy, smoky skies, the haze has largely cleared out of the Chicago area — at least for now.

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Early Monday morning, the National Weather Service warned residents that Canadian wildfire smoke would hang around for one more day, prompting an air quality alert and a warning for those with respiratory issues to stay indoors.

By Wednesday, the National Weather Service listed only "moderate" levels of concern for air quality, calling it "acceptable" for the Chicago area, but noting there may be risk for people who are particularly sensitive to air pollution.

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No air quality alerts were in effect in northern Illinois on Wednesday, although the NWS warned of dangerous swimming conditions along Lake Michigan beaches.

It's a different story in the Northeast, where "code red" alerts have been issued in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and smoke hung thick in the air in New York. The National Weather Service's air quality "levels of concern" showed "very unhealthy" or even "hazardous" air in parts of New York and Pennsylvania and merely "unhealthy" in other sections of the Northeast.

According to the Weather Channel, things could be slightly better for New York and parts of New England on Thursday, but the air quality will remain bad for places like Baltimore, parts of Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

According to CNN, more than 55 million people in the Northeast, Midwest and mid-Atlantic are under air quality alerts due to wildfire smoke as more than nine million acres have been burned in Canada.

Here's a look at what's happening out east:

• When Will The Smoke Clear in Connecticut?
• Code Red Issued: How To Stay Safe In NJ's Wildfire Haze
• Wildfire Smoke Will Linger In PA: What To Expect
• When Will The Smoke Clear In New York City?

While Canadian wildfire smoke wasn't posing a large hazard in Illinois Wednesday, continued dry weather could create the potential fire the state to have its own fires.

The National Weather Service warned that a very dry air mass and breezy northeasterly winds mean an elevated fire risk in central Cook, DuPage, Will Grundy, Kane, Kendall and Lake counties.

Related:

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