The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has extended the Air Quality Advisory through Tuesday August 5, 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. Mondays 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.
