Smoke from wildfires in Canada is coming into parts of Central America and could continue in the coming days, weather and health officials warned Thursday.
Air quality alerts were issued early Friday in several states, including Nebraska, Washington, Montana and Wisconsin, with a special weather statement on air quality in Wyoming.
The highest concentrations of smoke will move east and midwest throughout the day and affect major metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis.
Canada has had a very active start to the fire season. CNN reported that last week, devastating wildfires in Alberta burned 150 times more area than in the previous five years in the province.
In Nebraska, smoke from Canadian wildfires will spread over the area from this Friday into Saturday morning, “causing potentially hazardous air quality and poor visibility across eastern Nebraska and Iowa. If possible, use outdoor Limit activities when air quality deteriorates,” National Weather. the service in Omaha tweeted Thursday.
“Smoke from the wildfires has begun to move into the Lincoln and Omaha areas,” the service’s office in Omaha said Friday afternoon. “Visibility should drop to 1.5 – 3 km over the next few hours, and air quality will enter the unhealthy category for sensitive groups.”
In Douglas County in eastern Nebraska, which includes Omaha, the health department warned the smog could last into Saturday.
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index indicated that the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and parts of the Midwest, including parts of Nebraska and the state’s northeast corner, had “very unhealthy” air quality this Friday.
