Follow the latest news on unhealthy air quality across the Midwest

Evacuations ordered after wildfire erupts in Southern California

Dozens of homes were under evacuation and an unknown number of buildings burned after a wildfire erupted in Southern California, officials said.

The Juniper Fire ignited Tuesday afternoon in the community of Perris, roughly 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and had grown to 50 acres by 4 p.m., the Riverside County Fire Department said.

The blaze was 0 percent contained, according to the department.

A spokeswoman for the department said the blaze prompted mandatory evacuation orders for roughly 88 homes. The spokeswoman, Maggie Cline De La Rosa, said officials had confirmed structures had burned though it was clear how many had been destroyed or damaged.

Aerial video from NBC Los Angeles showed what appeared to be a house engulfed in flames. A separate video from the fire department showed flames approaching another house.

Minnesota breaks poor air quality record

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.

Models show smoke in Eastern U.S. cities on Wednesday 

Smoke from wildfires in Quebec could smother eastern cities, including New York and Boston, tomorrow afternoon. 

The BlueSky Canada system, which combines fire information with weather modeling to forecast smoke dispersal, predicts that the unhealthy concentrations of smoke will travel southeast from Quebec and cover those cities at around 3 p.m. ET. 

A similar smoke prediction model powered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tells a different story. It predicts surface smoke will travel toward the eastern U.S. later tomorrow, covering Pittsburgh, Raleigh, North Carolina, and other cities.

Both models are experimental, and the situation will develop further overnight. Smoke impacts are notoriously difficult to forecast, because they depend on myriad weather and fire behavior factors.

The Midwest is no stranger to elevated air pollution

Even before smoke from Canada’s wildfires wafted over Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, many major cities across the Midwest were experiencing elevated levels of air pollution, according to data from AirNow.gov, which is run by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Charts showing recent trends in air quality levels indicated, for instance, that Chicago has had only two days in June when air quality was considered “good.”

Detroit similarly has had only two days this month with “good” air quality, according to AirNow.

St. Louis has also struggled with elevated levels of air pollution, logging just one day in June with “good” air quality.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and parts of nearby Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, have each had just three days of “good” air quality this month.

92 million under air quality alerts in U.S.

Around 92 million people in the U.S. were under air quality alerts this evening as smoke from Canada wildfires again affected parts of the country, according to NBC’s Weather Unit.

Some state government agencies and others warned residents to limit their time outdoors because of wildfire smoke, which was also affecting visibility.

Air quality alerts covered a large part of the Midwest, including all of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, according to the National Weather Service.

Other states, including parts of Pennsylvania and New York, were also under the alerts.

Iowa also under air quality alert because of smoke

Officials in Iowa joined those in other Midwestern states in issuing air quality alerts and warning residents to limit time outdoors because of the return of wildfire smoke from Canada fires.

“Here we go again, another day engulfed in wildfire smoke,” the National Weather Service for the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois tweeted.

Iowa’s Department of Natural Resources said that there was an air quality advisory through tomorrow and that conditions were worse in the eastern part of the state.

Officials said that people should reduce long or intense outdoor activities and take breaks and that those with heart or lung conditions and outdoor workers are particularly at risk.

Wisconsin issues statewide advisory on air quality

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a multiday advisory because of the wildfire smoke, saying the air quality could be affected through noon Thursday.

Detroit’s air quality is among the worst in the world

Detroit’s air quality ranks second-worst of any major city in the world, according to IQAir.com, an air pollution tracking service operated by a Swiss technology company.

A statewide air quality advisory has been issued in Michigan as pollution levels in some areas spike into “unhealthy” and “hazardous” ranges.

“For vulnerable adults and all children, staying indoors with air conditioning on and windows and outside doors shut is one of the best options when outdoor air is unhealthy,” Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services tweeted.

Canadian wildfire season is worst on record – and just getting started

Canada is having its worst fire season on record, with more than 19 million acres burned, according to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. The agency lists statistics of the total area burned across the country for every year dating to 1983. 

Some 487 fires were burning across the country as of 5:30 p.m. ET, the agency reported. Nearly 260 of them were considered “out of control.”

A prolonged spring heat wave in northern Canada primed the landscape for fire. Beginning in April, an omega block pattern of high pressure centered on parts of northern Canada, which sent temperatures soaring to record levels and dried out vegetation. The country has been on its highest level of alert for wildfires since May 11. 

The unusual pattern is consistent with what climate scientists have predicted for Canada as the world warms as a result of human use of fossil fuels. 

Wildfire activity in Canada typically peaks in early to mid-July, and the danger this year is unlikely to abate for months. Monthly forecasts suggest fire severity will be “well above average” in western Canada through September.

Video shows haze blanketing Chicago skyline

A Chicago resident captured haze blanketing the city’s skyline this morning.

Larysa Gierut, a resident of Chicago, went out to fly a drone by the Adler Planetarium this morning to record what she thought was fog, but then she realized it was haze and smoke.

Gierut said that her clothes smelled like fire when she went home and that she plans to stay home until the skies clear up.

“I called my daughter to come home, too,” she said. “She ran home fast.”

As smoke hits Midwest, Southern states hit by sweltering temperatures

Though Midwest and East Coast states are bracing for terrible air conditions, Southern states are dealing with a third week of oppressive heat.

Heat records are being broken across Texas. San Angelo hit a record high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 104 in 1994. That same day, Del Rio set a record high temperature, hitting 110.

In addition to the records set in Texas, forecasters say more could fall later this week as triple-digit temperatures are expected in parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Louisiana.

Warnings and advisories for excessive heat are also in place across the Southwest and parts of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, according to the National Weather Service.

Chicago air quality alert in effect until midnight Wednesday

Chicago officials warned residents that air quality in the city is considered “very unhealthy,” adding that people should limit time outdoors.

The city’s Office of Emergency Management & Communications tweeted that an air quality alert will remain in effect until midnight tomorrow.

Officials also issued guidance about how to stay safe as air pollution spikes in the region. Recommendations include staying indoors, keeping windows and doors closed and wearing masks if people venture outside.

New York governor tells residents to prepare for smoke’s return

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement warning people in the state to take precautions and brace for bad air quality in the coming days.

Hochul’s office said the smoke from the Canadian wildfires is expected to once again affect the region tomorrow and Thursday. The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued a health advisory for the western New York, central New York and eastern Lake Ontario regions.

“Over the next … 48 hours we’re anticipating the smoke and the haze to come all across the state,” Hochul said. “We’ve been watching this and monitoring this, and it’s going to enter the New York skies tomorrow morning, with Western and Central New York hit first Wednesday. And by Thursday, you’re going to see smoke affecting New Yorkers here in the city as well.”

Expectations for the air quality index will reach as high as 200, or “very unhealthy” levels, and Hochul warned that conditions can deteriorate very quickly.

Authorities are making N95-style masks available at major transit hubs, and they will be distributed across the state.

What the Air Quality Index numbers mean

Air quality is measured on an index of 0 to 500, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow website.

The number corresponds to the concentration of pollutants in the air, with anything under 100 considered to be satisfactory and increasing toward 500 the worse the quality becomes. The scale is also color-coded, with 0 to 100 in the green zone of “good” and anything above 300 labeled as maroon, or “hazardous,” the website says.

Chicago’s air quality by this afternoon was 181, according to IQAir.com. That put it in the “unhealthy” red category, putting more sensitive groups at risk for serious health effects.

Air quality tanks in Midwest as Canadian wildfires continue to rage

Just weeks after an orange haze descended on the East Coast, wildfire smoke from Canadian wildfires caused air quality to plummet in the Midwest today.

Chicago had the worst air quality in the world by this afternoon, according to IQAir.com, a tracking service. Second on the list was nearby Detroit.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued an air quality alert in effect until midnight tomorrow and encouraged Chicago residents to limit their time outdoors. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the city is monitoring the situation.

The National Weather Service has issued air quality alerts for northeastern Illinois, northwestern Indiana and all of southeast Michigan for today and tomorrow.