Government of Alberta Fire Service/Canadian Press/AP
The Bald Mountain Wildfire is burning in the Grande Prairie Forest Area of Alberta on Friday, May 12, 2023.
CNN
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Smoke from wildfires in Canada is moving into parts of the central United States and could linger for days to come, health and weather officials warned Thursday.
Air quality alerts have been issued beginning early Friday in several states, including Nebraska, Washington, Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, with a special air quality weather statement in Wyoming.
The heaviest concentrations of smoke should move further east into the Midwest later in the day, affecting large metro areas including Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Louis.
Canada has had a particularly active start to the fire season. Last week, devastating wildfires in Alberta had burned more than 150 times more land in that province than in the past five years combined at the same time of year, CNN reported.
In Nebraska, “Canadian wildfire smoke will move through the area today into tomorrow morning, resulting in potentially hazardous air quality and poor visibility across eastern Nebraska and Iowa. Limit outdoor activities if possible when air quality is poor!” the National Weather Service in Omaha tweeted Thursday.
Smoke from wildfires is “beginning to move into the Lincoln and Omaha metro areas,” the service’s Omaha office said Thursday afternoon. “Visibility should drop to 1-2 miles within the next few hours and air quality will enter the unhealthy range for sensitive groups.”
In eastern Nebraska’s Douglas County — which includes Omaha — the health department warned that smoke could remain through Saturday.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality index showed parts of the Rockies, Great Plains and Midwest, including the Nebraska Panhandle and the northeast corner of the state, had “very unhealthy” air quality early Friday.
