Overview
- The Chicago area remained under an Air Quality Alert on Monday with a regionwide AQI near 140, and several suburbs reporting levels rated “unhealthy” for all people.
- The degraded air comes from a second round of smoke carried from Canadian wildfires that is raising fine particulate (PM2.5) across northern Illinois, southeast Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.
- The Illinois EPA and AirNow advise older adults, children and people with heart or lung conditions to limit outdoor exertion and shorten time spent outside to reduce health risks.
- Local forecasts and IQAir predict a drop to moderate air quality on Tuesday and a return to healthy conditions by Wednesday if winds shift to flush out the smoke, and meteorologists say rain alone will only provide brief relief.
- Residents can track real-time readings on AirNow and IQAir, expect smoke to ebb and flow this week, and may see continued short-term disruptions to outdoor programs and activities while the episode persists.