The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has issued an Air Quality Advisory for elevated levels of fine particulates (PM2.5) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan starting at 3 PM EDT on Tuesday until noon EDT Thursday.
Pollutants are expected to be in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG, Orange AQI) range.
The alert is in effect for the following Michigan Counties, Keweenaw, Menominee, Dickinson, Iron, Marquette, Baraga, Northern Houghton, Southern Schoolcraft, Ontonagon, Delta, Gogebic, Luce, Alger, Northern Schoolcraft, and Southern Houghton.
Smoke from the Canadian wildfires will move into the western Upper Peninsula Tuesday afternoon. Models then show the plume pushing south and east, covering the Upper Peninsula early Wednesday. The smoke is expected to linger across the region into Thursday. As the smoke moves in, we anticipate PM2.5 to increase into the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) range. There is a possibility that hourly levels could reach the Unhealthy (red AQI) range for a short period of time.
It is recommended that, when possible, you avoid strenuous outdoor activities, especially those with heart disease and respiratory diseases such as 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 use of residential wood burning devices.
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 at https://air-egle.hub.arcgis.com/.
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.
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