Despite heavy overnight rain and showers, smoke and haze from Canadian wildfires continues to the impact air quality in the Midwest and beyond, with the Chicago area's air quality registering at "unhealthy" to "very unhealthy" levels for the third day in a row.
As of 10:30 a.m., the Environmental Protection Agency's air monitoring website AirNow rated Chicago's air quality as "unhealthy" -- which ranks as level four on a six-level scale -- with a PM2.5 of 185. Near Madison, Wisconsin and in parts Michigan, the air quality is even worse, at "very unhealthy," AirNow showed.
Additionally, an air quality alert and an "air pollution action day" for northwest Indiana and northeastern Illinois remains in effect until midnight.
According to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, an air pollution action day is declared "when weather conditions are such that widespread ozone and or particulate levels are expected to be at or above the unhealthy for sensitive groups category of the air quality index."
"Active children and adults especially people with pulmonary or respiratory disease such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor activity," the alert adds.
According to AirNow, the poor air quality is expected to gradually improve this weekend, with the air quality forecast showing air quality improving to "unhealthy for sensitive groups" -- level three on the six-level scale -- on Friday. Saturday and Sunday the air quality is expected to improve even more, AirNow shows, with Chicago expected to register in the "moderate" level.
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Chicago's poor air quality issues have persisted since Tuesday, when the city ranked in the No. 1 spot for the worst air quality in the world, according to the World Air Quality Index. At that time, deputy division chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Northwestern Dr. Ravi Kalhan compared to breathing Chicago's air to "smoking a half-a-pack of cigarettes a day.”
Throughout the week, the city and the suburbs moved to cancel events and close beaches due to the conditions. As of 10:45 a.m. Thursday, 100 flights at O'Hare International Airport were canceled, following a trend of thousands of cancelations across the country due to a combination of air quality and weather issues.
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According to the NBC 5 Storm Team, rain and strong storms on the way Thursday could help the region's air quality to gradually improve. However, smoke can be difficult to forecast, NBC 5 Meteorologist Pete Sack said earlier this week.
"There are a lot of variables that go into it," Sack said, "So it's a little bit too difficult to predict what's going to be happening three, four or five days out."
