Smoke Lingers Over WI Amid Air Quality Alert: When Will It Clear?

WISCONSIN — As smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to drift across Wisconsin, much of the state is under an air quality alert into Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.

The alert impacts nearly every corner of Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee and Waukesha areas and beyond. The surface smoke could get worse into Thursday and spread north and east amid daytime heating and vertical mix, the NWS said.

Smoky skies could return Friday again into Saturday amid a mostly sunny weekend, the NWS said in a tweet. An air quality alert remains into Thursday for smoke particles but showers could spread through the area by Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Wisconsin's air quality monitoring website listed Waukesha and Milwaukee County as unhealthy for sensitive groups Thursday morning. Grant County in the far southwest was listed as unhealthy, while far northern parts of the state were in better condition.

By Thursday afternoon, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was encouraging people to stay indoors and limit time outdoors amid the air quality alerts. Health impacts were expected across most of Wisconsin on Thursday.

The DNR said "people with heart or lung disease, older adults and children should consider making outdoor activities shorter and less intense and reduce heavy exertion" in areas of unhealthy air quality and areas of unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups.

See also: Juneteenth Kicking Off In Milwaukee With Parade And Street Festival

NWS forecasters said people who have heart or lung disease, plus older adults and children, should avoid prolonged exertion in areas with unhealthy air quality, while others everyone else should reduce their heavy or prolonged exertion.

Cleaner air is expected to stream in from the northeast with a lake breeze in the afternoon, lowering particle concentrations in the northern and eastern parts of the advisory area, the NWS said. In this area, air quality may range from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Amid the air quality concerns, Lake Michigan beaches in Racine, Milwaukee and Kenosha have a high swim risk into Thursday evening.