The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued an Air Quality Advisory for the following counties: Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Rusk, St. Croix. WHAT. The PM2.5 AQI is expected to reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) to Unhealthy level. WHERE. All of Wisconsin. WHEN. Until noon Thursday, July 31. Precautionary/Preparedness Actions: Sensitive groups: Consider rescheduling or moving all activities inside. Go inside if you have symptoms. People with asthma: Follow your asthma action plan and keep quick-relief medicine handy. People with heart disease: Symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, or unusual fatigue may indicate a serious problem. If you have any of these, contact your health care provider. Everyone else: Keep outdoor activities shorter and less intense. Go inside if you have symptoms. Additional Details: Canadian wildfire smoke will impact Wisconsin's surface air quality over the coming days, causing the PM2.5 Air Quality Index (AQI) to range from the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG; Orange) category to the Unhealthy (Red) category. It will be possible for NowCast AQI values to reach the Very Unhealthy (Purple) category. Smoke impacts are already being observed in northern Wisconsin on Tuesday morning, and the smoke is expected to slowly travel south through northern Wisconsin Tuesday. Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, the smoke will continue south, impacting most of the state by noon Wednesday. The smoke is then expected to linger over the state from noon Wednesday until noon Thursday. We may see brief improvements in air quality on Thursday before smoke moves back into northern areas on Friday. Stay tuned to the air quality forecast as conditions can change quickly during wildfire smoke events. For more information on current air quality, please see: https://airquality.wi.gov
