Air quality across the Chicago area continues to register as “very unhealthy” due to high smoke and ozone levels, according to an alert from the National Weather Service on Wednesday. An air quality alert for northwest Indiana and northeastern Illinois that was scheduled to expire at midnight has been extended.
“An air quality activity day has been estimate for northwest Indiana for raised ozone levels and fierce blaze smoke, and is active until late Thursday night,” the alarm says. ” Ozone levels and smoke levels are supposed to be at unfortunate levels for delicate gatherings.”
In Illinois, the ready, which covers the whole Chicago region, including McHenry, Lake, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, LaSalle, Cook, Grundy, Kendall and LaSalle areas, says that “The Illinois Ecological Security Office conjecture undesirable for fine particulate matter statewide on Wednesday June 28 and unfortunate for delicate gatherings for fine particulate matter statewide Thursday June 29th.”
The alert says that smoke from Canada’s wildfires is still having an effect on the area, “pushing air quality into the unhealthy or worse categories.”
The NWS added that the additional alert was prompted by “the unique widespread nature of this episode.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website for air quality, AirNow, as of 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a significant portion of Chicago’s air quality remained “very unhealthy,” or level four on a six-level scale, with a PM2.5 level of 255.
That number was lower earlier on Wednesday, at 225.
