An air quality alert remains in effect for the entire Chicago area Monday as haze and smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to impact the region.
According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the alert will remain in effect until midnight.
"Haze from wildfire smoke will persist in our region into Monday," a tweet from the National Weather Service said. "Resulting poor air quality may be unhealthy for sensitive groups."
According to the government website AirNow, Chicago's air quality currently registers at "unhealthy," which ranks as level four on a six-level scale.
As of 6:30 a.m. Monday, the city's PM2.5 -- an air pollutant also known as fine particulate matter -- registered at 155. Anything over 200 is considered "very unhealthy," officials said.
When the air quality is classified as "unhealthy," those with respiratory conditions, as well as active children and teenagers, are encouraged to avoid strenuous outdoor activities, to keep any outdoor activities short, and to consider moving activities indoors.
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Others are also encouraged to choose less-strenuous activities outdoors, and to shorten time spent outside.
NBC 5 Meteorologist Alicia Roman reports hazy sunshine is expected Monday morning. However, the smoke and haze could dissipate as the day continues, Roman said.
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"I do think that haze may stay early on in the day before it starts to mix out early this afternoon," Roman said.
Sunday, the NWS issued an air quality alert for much of the Great Lakes, Midwest and northern High Plains due to the "lingering, thick concentration of Canadian wildfire smoke" over those regions.
"While the concentration of smoke in the atmosphere should begin to wain by Monday, there is still enough smoke to support unhealthy air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups in parts of these regions into the start of the upcoming week," the alert said.
The alert comes weeks after smoke and haze from Canadian wildfires blanketed the Chicago area for several days resulting in canceled events, closed beaches, flight cancelations and more.
Saturday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson warned residents that air quality alerts were expected to continue into the work week and said that the city was "closely monitoring any worsening air conditions."
"We are acutely aware that the recent weather events prominently impacting our City this summer are the direct result of the climate crisis," Johnson said in a tweet. "We will take every effort to protect our community from these immediate threats and mitigate ongoing impacts through robust climate actions."
