Ironwood, MI Severe Weather Alertstar_ratehome

...AIR QUALITY ADVISORY TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6...

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has extended the
Air Quality Advisory through Wednesday August 6, for elevated levels
of fine particulates (PM2.5). Pollutants could reach the Unhealthy
for Sensitive Groups (USG, Orange AQI) range for all counties in the
Upper Peninsula through Wednesday.

The alert is in effect for all of the Upper Peninsula.

Mondaybs forecast expressed hope that the Tuesday Advisory for
wildfire smoke would be the last day of this smoke episode. That
forecast will ultimately be partially true and partially false.

The air quality models are consistent that a return to southerly flow
will push the worst of the smoke northward during Wednesday. As a
result, the lower half of the Lower Peninsula will see the benefits
of the cleaner air first. Therefore, the advisory for that area of
the State will not continue Wednesday. The Northern Lower Peninsula
(Cadillac and north) and the Upper Peninsula will clean out last,
prompting the Advisory to remain in place for those counties through
Wednesday.

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 and 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 further information, please see EPA's Air Now site for up-to-
date air quality data at https://www.airnow.gov

For further health information, please see MDHHS' Wildfire Smoke and
Your Health site at https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/safety-injury-
prev/environmental-health/your-health-and-wildfire-smoke.