Grand Rapids, MI Severe Weather Alertstar_ratehome

Air Quality Advisory for Michigan
Wednesday July 30th and Thursday July 31st

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
has issued an Air Quality Advisory for elevated levels of fine particulate
(PM2.5) across the state of Michigan. Pollutants across the state are expected
to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG, Orange AQI) range Wednesday
and Thursday with some locations reaching the Unhealthy (Red AQI) range.


The Air Quality Advisory includes all Michigan counties.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires moved into the Upper Peninsula Tuesday and into
parts of the northern Lower Peninsula Wednesday morning. Models show the
plume continuing its southern trek across the state with smoke expected
to linger across the region through Thursday. As the smoke moves in, PM2.5
concentrations in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) range will
expand south, while concentrations of PM2.5 in the Unhealthy range are
more likely across northern areas.

It is recommended that, when possible, you avoid strenuous outdoor
activities, especially those with heart disease and respiratory
diseases like asthma. Monitor for symptoms such as wheezing,
coughing, chest tightness, dizziness, or burning in nose, throat, and
eyes. Reduce or eliminate activities that contribute to air
pollution, such as:

outdoor burning;
use of residential wood burning devices.


Tips for households:

Keep windows closed overnight to prevent smoke from getting indoors
and, if possible, run central air conditioning with MERV-13 or
higher rated filters.


For up-to-date air quality data for Michigan visit the MiAir site:

https://air-egle.hub.arcgis.com/



For up-to-date air quality data nationally visit EPAs Air Now site:

https://www.airnow.gov/



For further health information, please see MDHHS Wildfire Smoke and
Your Health site:

https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/safety-injury-prev/environmental-health/
your-health-and-wildfire-smoke