Chicago’s unhealthy air quality will continue into the weekend, experts say

Unhealthy air quality is expected to last through the weekend for the Chicago area, as northeasterly winds bring smoke in from Canadian wildfires.

National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Doom said the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is issuing an air pollution “action day” alert for Saturday as the smoke lingers throughout Chicago.

“The air quality is not necessarily worse, but it’s just not improving all that much either. It’s just remaining stagnant,” Doom said.

The agency issued an alert on Thursday, spanning Northern and Central Illinois and Northwest Indiana. That initial alert is in effect until midnight Friday.

Doom said southern winds coming through Illinois have helped clear conditions in the atmosphere, but the smoke remains close to the ground.

Much of the Chicago area’s air was unhealthy for sensitive groups on Friday. The EPA recommends that sensitive individuals with conditions like asthma should limit strenuous activity and shorten time spent outdoors. Check AirNow.gov for updates.

The wildfire smoke is creating a type of pollution that consists of harmful tiny particles that can lodge deep in the lungs and cause breathing problems. Particle pollution is one type of pollution regulated by EPA.

Doom said it is unusual for the agency to issue an alert for more than two days in a row.

“I cannot recall a time they’ve ever issued an alert for more than one day at a time,” Doom said. “Usually they’ll just kind of take it day by day. So for Sunday we probably won’t know if an alert will be set in place until [Saturday].”

The Weather Company, which provides weather forecasting and owns the Weather Channel, ranked Chicago as having the ninth-worst air quality in the world among cities with a population of over 4 million. IQ Air, a Swiss air-technology company, ranked Chicago the 10th most-polluted city worldwide. Right now, Detroit is the first.

Though wildfires can be hard to predict, Doom said the weather service expects conditions to improve after the weekend.