AREAS AFFECTED : KEWEENAW; ONTONAGON; HOUGHTON; BARAGA; MARQUETTE; ALGER; LUCE; GOGEBIC; IRON; DICKINSON; MENOMINEE; DELTA; SOUTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT; SOUTHERN HOUGHTON; NORTHERN SCHOOLCRAFT
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.