Air quality alert issued for most of Wisconsin as more Canadian wildfire smoke moves south

The Canadian wildfire smoke that covered northwest Wisconsin July 24 has moved south and is causing air quality problems in most of the state.

In response, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued an air quality advisory for the following counties: Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Kenosha, Marquette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Washington and Waukesha.

The Air Quality Index is expected to reach the unhealthy level for sensitive groups. The advisory started at 3 p.m. July 24 and is in effect until 11 p.m. July 25.

The smoke began moving south Thursday afternoon and will impact central and southeastern Wisconsin all day Friday, before possibly getting pushed back further north on July 26 due to southerly winds.

As a precaution, the National Weather Service is advising people in sensitive groups, including children, older adults and people with lung or heart conditions like asthma, to avoid being outside.

See air quality in your area

See the live map below to track air quality in your area. Green indicates good air quality, while yellow is moderate and orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

What is an air quality alert?

Air quality alerts are issued when elevated levels of pollutants in the air make it unsafe to be outside.

Particles from the Canadian wildfire smoke can cause minor symptoms, such as mild eye or throat irritation, or more serious heart and lung issues in some cases, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Wildfire smoke particles, which are called PM2.5, are especially dangerous for children, older adults, pregnant people and those with heart or respiratory conditions.

How to check the air quality in Wisconsin

The DNR has interactive air quality maps, which show the AQI and any active alerts or advisories by county. You can view them on the department's website , or you can also type in your ZIP code into the AirNow.gov website to view air quality in your area.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Air quality alert issued for most of state as smoke moves south