Maps show U.S. air quality and Canada wildfire smoke forecast
An air quality map shows conditions improving across the United States on Friday as smoke from the Canadian wildfires subsides after prompting air quality alerts and advisories in several states this week.
Some areas near the border with Canada — including northern Minnesota, parts of Michigan and northern New York — were still facing unhealthy air on Friday afternoon, according to a federal measurement system called the Air Quality Index. Other areas of the Midwest and Northeast had ratings of good, moderate or unhealthy for sensitive groups.
The air index has six ratings:
- Good
- Moderate
- Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- Unhealthy
- Very unhealthy
- Hazardous
Sensitive groups include those who have a heart or lung disease, as well as older adults, children and pregnant women.
Multiple states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan, also experienced unhealthy air earlier in the week.
Some air quality alerts remained in effect Friday evening, including in northern Minnesota, northern Indiana, southern Michigan and northern New York, according to the National Weather Service.
But overall, the smoke was becoming less intense in the U.S. These maps show the smoke forecast for Friday and Saturday.
More than 200 fires were burning in Canada as of Friday morning, with over 100 of them considered out of control, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Tens of thousands of residents across three provinces have been evacuated due to the blazes.
