Canadian wildfire smoke just blanketed the Midwest -- again [View all]

[marmar]

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.


Wildfires in western and central Canada spread rapidly this week, with smoke sweeping into the Midwest and triggering air quality alerts in several states. For some, it was a reminder of last year’s smoky conditions.

“The front came through — it kind of just dragged the smoke down to us in the Midwest, which is what we typically saw last year, too,” said Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist with Michigan’s Air Quality Division.

There were no alerts in northern Michigan, but the region did see some haze. In Minnesota, the situation was much worse.

“You looked outside and buildings more than a couple blocks away were starting to look smoky,” said Matt Taraldsen, the supervisory meteorologist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency based in St. Paul. “You could definitely see the smoke outside, you could smell it, you could even taste it in the morning. It was really gross.” ...............(more)

https://michiganadvance.com/2024/05/18/canadian-wildfire-smoke-just-blanketed-the-midwest-again/