Air quality today is at 183. I am about an hour drive from Detroit. I worked out in the yard this morning, no problems. We have had some days with air quality at over 200. I really did not notice. I took this photo today about 11:30. It clearly shows the smoke...

We've had hazy smokey days around Chicago as well this week. Two days ago you could smell the burning, it was impossible to ignore, really strong. Even with my allergies though luckily it hasn't given me any issues (other than having to smell it constantly).

Same here. Smokey haze drifting all over. I could taste it. My eyes have been burning for 2 days. Philly has listed the air quality as not good for anyone with heart issues, children, older adults with health problems, asthmatic prone people. I wore a mask to clean the dog area.

N95s worked great for the wildfire smoke here a couple of years back. I used the kind with the respirator in front, found in the tool area of stores. Not good for COVID use but great for smoke issues. I could not smell the smoke at all with the mask. Pull the edge out a little and you quickly know the smoke is still there (not that you couldn't see it!).

I wish we had the N95s back in the 70s and 80s when the farmers in the Willamette Valley burned their fields every year. Everything covered in ash most of the summer. It all came to an end one year when one day the wind direction changed unpredictably and smoke blew across I5 freeway and drivers were suddenly blinded. The result was a huge high speed pileup that wiped out an entire family of seven in a VW van.

Not familiar with the air quality stats. What's considered good?

jpm995 said: Not familiar with the air quality stats. What's considered good?

The air quality index is new to me as well. Today it is 8 and is in a green box (google weather). So, i think 8 is good. When it was 180 or so, that little box was red (probably bad). I quit smoking years ago, so 180 is probably ok for me:)

You can put an App on your phone called "AirNow." During the fires 2 summers ago, our air quality index was over 800 a couple times - it was dark as night outside. You don't want to breathe that smoke, its toxic. My entire vegetable garden died and everything else was starting to turn yellow. My refuge was my greenhouse - even with the vents open, the air was amazingly fresh. The power of plants in an enclosed space.

After a couple weeks of that, I was so excited to see the sun, I took a picture.