Wildfire smoke blanketing Michigan has pushed air quality across much of the state to levels rarely seen in at least two decades, according to the National Weather Service.
Meteorologist Cort Scholten said readings from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy show Thursday’s conditions are about the worst the state has recorded in at least 20 years.
“This air quality today across much of Michigan is about the worst that they have on record, going back at least the last 20 years,” Scholten said.
He compared the smoke event with June 27, 2023, when wildfire smoke also caused widespread air quality problems across Lower Michigan.
Scholten said concentrations of fine-particle pollution Thursday were about twice as high as they were during that 2023 event.
“There’s not very much else you can compare that to in the last 20 years, at least,” he said.
CLOSINGS AND CANCELLATIONS
The unhealthy air is also causing disruptions across mid-Michigan.
- The Michigan Athletic Club in East Lansing is closed until further notice.
- The Lansing School District canceled all student activities Thursday, including athletic practices and summer school.
- In Jackson, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new development in the city’s Flatiron District was delayed.
- At Potter Park Zoo in Lansing, animals are being given access to both their indoor and outdoor environments so they can choose where they are most comfortable.
- The Nokomis Cultural Heritage Center in Okemos also canceled its monthly Elders Lunch scheduled for Friday.
THE SMOKE ORIGINS
The smoke is coming from multiple large clusters of wildfires stretching from northern Minnesota into Ontario, north of Lake Superior.
Scholten said lightning from storm systems earlier this week is believed to have started some of the fires. Hot weather across the region then helped the fires intensify.
The smoke reached Michigan after winds carried it south Wednesday and Thursday.
THE SMOKE OUTLOOK
Scholten said the state is now largely at the mercy of the wind.
“We’re kind of at the mercy of where the wind is going to blow the next few days and take the smoke with it,” he said.
Weak winds across Michigan are preventing the smoke from clearing quickly.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have very much wind happening across Michigan today into early Friday, so we’re stuck in the smoke through a good chunk of the day Friday,” Scholten said.
EGLE is forecasting very unhealthy to hazardous levels of fine-particle pollution through much of Friday.
Some cleaner air could begin moving into southern and southwestern Michigan late Friday as winds shift out of the southwest. Scholten said any improvement in the Lansing area may not arrive until later in the day.
The outlook for the weekend remains uncertain.
Winds are expected to shift back out of the northwest later Saturday into Sunday, which could carry more smoke into Lower Michigan if the fires continue producing large amounts of smoke.
Scholten said that will depend in part on how much rain northern Minnesota and Ontario receive and whether the fires weaken.
Health officials are urging people to limit time outdoors, avoid strenuous outdoor activity and keep windows closed when possible. People with heart or lung conditions, older adults, children and other sensitive groups face the greatest risk from smoke pollution.
