The air quality warnings in Iowa due to the smoke from Canadian wildfires were cleared by midday today.
Air quality ratings indicate when air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, like people with asthma. Todd Russell in the Air Monitoring program in the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says the smoke should exit Iowa soon.
“The most significant smoky air should be out of the state, maybe the last place to exit will be the northwest corner of the state,” he says, “and that should happen late tonight, in the early hours of the morning.”
Even Russell admits he was surprised to learn smoke was drifting over the state given our wet spring, but air quality maps clearly show the origins. “I think I saw 48 active fires (in Canada) and that smoke lofts in the air and it’s amazing how it can travel maybe a thousand miles and then when it hits a cooler portion of air or cools off, it can sink down,” Russell says. “,,,All of Iowa is still smoke affected, but it’s not above the health standard.”
Iowans with health concerns about air quality can monitor conditions online at airnow.gov.