Could the smoky and hazy conditions making for dramatic images and sparking air quality alerts in the Northeast make their way into the Chicago area next?
While haze has been reported across northern Illinois so far in connection with Canadian wildfires, the region has seen only a mild impact compared to those in places like New York, where the smoke has created a dystopian-style detour that's chased players from ballfields, actors from Broadway stages, delayed thousands of flights and sparked a resurgence in mask wearing and remote work — all while raising concerns about the health effects of prolonged exposure to such bad air.
Wildfire smoke photos in NYC show ‘apocalyptic' sepia landscape
Across the eastern U.S., officials warned residents to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities again Thursday, extending “Code Red” air quality alerts in some places for a third straight day as forecasts showed winds continuing to push smoke-filled air south.
But could those conditions make their way to Chicago?
Air quality alerts have already been issued in parts of the region as the situation unfolded, but NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Kevin Jeanes said "the worst air quality will continue to remain out east."
"While we may still have hazy skies and 'moderate' air quality from time to time, we won’t have nearly as many particulates in the air as what they’re seeing in New York," he said.
Still, air quality alerts remain in effect in all of northwest Indiana through at least Friday.
Jeanes said a shift could be on the way, however.
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"A stubborn northeast wind has brought in the wildfire smoke, but we’ll finally see a shift to a northwest wind late Saturday into Sunday as a storm system approaches," he said, "This should be enough to improve our air quality significantly Sunday. It’s also going to cool us down and likely bring rain."
You can check the air quality levels for your area using this online interactive map.
