A 23rd in Minnesota^e A record air quality warning was issued across much of the state Tuesday through Wednesday evening as smoky skies obscured the Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines.

“As soon as you entered the zoo, you could just see around the buildings, kind of a haze,” said Shelly Woinowski, who visited Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

Further inland, Priti Marwah, who started a run along the town lake, described Tuesday’s fog as “bad.”

“You can smell the smoke,” she remarked. I run a hundred miles a week so today is going to be dangerous. You can feel it… just as soon as I park there and get out, I can feel it in my lungs. »

Michigan’s Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy issued a statewide air quality warning Tuesday, while in Chicago — where air quality has been classified as “unhealthy” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — officials are urging young, older adults and local residents to take health conditions indoors remain.

“We encourage children, teens, the elderly, those with heart or lung conditions, and pregnant women to avoid strenuous activities and limit their time outdoors,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. As these dangerous conditions continue, the City will continue to provide updated information and take immediate action to ensure vulnerable people have the resources they need to protect themselves and their families. »

Some Chicago-area daycares advised parents to keep their children indoors Tuesday due to poor air quality, while a youth sports club adjusted activities to allow for more time outdoors.

The smoke was drifting south

Earlier this month, massive fires raged across the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes region, scorching much of Canada’s forests. The air turned yellowish gray and people had to stay indoors and keep the windows closed.

The small particles in wildfire smoke can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and affect the heart and lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Health officials say it’s important to limit outdoor activities as much as possible to avoid inhaling these particles.

Fires in northern Quebec and lows east of the Great Lakes are sending smoke to northern Michigan, southern Wisconsin and Chicago, National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Jackson said.

He said a northerly wind will drive the smoke further south, entering Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky later Tuesday and overnight.

Southwest Michigan has a high air quality index, over 200 out of a 500-point index, he noted. This is considered unhealthy for everyone as it involves high particulate matter pollution (PM2.5).

“Until the fires are extinguished, there is a risk,” Mr Jackson warned. If the wind blows from the north, there is a chance of smoke formation. »

In early June, US President Joe Biden said in a statement that hundreds of US firefighters and relief workers have been in Canada since May, drawing attention to the fires as a reminder of the effects of climate change.

According to Joel Thornton, professor and chair of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, the warming planet will create hotter and longer heatwaves that will cause bigger and smokier fires.

Smoke from the wildfires drifted into Minnesota Monday night, and smoke is expected to persist at ground level in south, east, central and northeast Minnesota. This includes the Twin Cities area to the northeast corner of the state and to the southwest and southeast corners.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) posted on Twitter Tuesday the 23rd^e Minnesota had one air quality warning this year, beating the previous record of 21 set in 2021. Normally, Minnesota has an average of two or three warnings per season.

St. Paul recorded the worst air quality in the United States two weeks ago due to smoke from wildfires in Canada. As of Tuesday afternoon, air quality in eastern Minnesota, from the Canadian border to the Iowa border, was considered “unhealthy.”

The MPCA said a cold front will sweep through Minnesota on Wednesday, bringing cleaner westerly air through the region through early Thursday.

But on Tuesday, the impending respite meant little to Dan Daley, a resident of St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

“Some days it’s a bit miserable because you can’t spend much time outside,” he lamented.

Mr Daley said he smelled and tasted smoke in the air as he left the house this morning. He saw hazy skies and wondered if that would be the norm for future summers in the area. When air quality makes it unhealthy to be outdoors, Mr. Daley has a hard time doing the things he loves, like hiking, camping, and walking around town.

He worries people in other parts of the country who haven’t had bad air quality days may think it’s no big deal. “If you think the smoke isn’t that bad, you should come here and see for yourself,” he said.