Hazy conditions, unhealthy air quality in Iowa continue as Canadian wildfires burn

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has posted an air quality alert through much of the state, due to smoke from Canadian wildfires.

The alert is anticipated to stay in effect through midnight on Friday with “moderate to heavy smoke” blanketing the region.

The “moderate to heavy smoke is expected to impact most of Iowa over the next few days at levels considered unhealthy for sensitive groups or even unhealthy for healthy individuals,” the National Weather Service said in its air quality report on Thursday, July 31.

The National Weather Service said that sensitive groups could include people with respiratory illness or heart disease, children, teenagers, the elderly and outdoor workers.

The DNR is recommending that people avoid long or intense outdoor activities and take frequent breaks inside until the air quality improves.

As of Thursday, air quality alerts are also in place for Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, in addition to Iowa.

The air quality alert was put into place as the particulate matter from the fires surpasses the national standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour period.

As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, Cedar Rapids’ particulate matter level was at 157 micrograms per cubic meter, which is about four times the national standard.

By noon on Friday, the particulate matter level is projected to be about 64 micrograms per cubic meter.

Where are the fires coming from?

Much of the smoke covering the Midwest is coming from Canadian Providences that have active wildfires.

According to an interactive map from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System, there are many wildfires across Canada — many in the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Providences that lie above the Midwest region — that have fires considered “out of control.”

  Buy Photo

The smoke is making its way into Iowa and throughout the Midwest due to high pressure in southern Canada steering the smoke south across the U.S. border.

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the smoke concentrations should gradually decline, as some smoke spreads as far south as Tennessee and Missouri. However, the clearing of the smoke may be slow.

For Iowa specifically, the smoke is expected to remain over the state affecting air quality for the next several days, until a “significant” weather system sweeps it out of Iowa.

This comes as much of Iowa has experienced heavy rains throughout the last week, which has placed parts of the state in flood warning zones. The flood warnings are primarily in Eastern Iowa, in Cedar Rapids and near Davenport.

Over the last three days, just over 1.5 inches of rain were reported at The Eastern Iowa Airport. About 2.76 inches of rainfall was reported in Marshalltown and just over 2 inches of rain was reported in parts of Dubuque.

The recent rain has also helped further alleviate the states’ drought conditions, bring about 98.41 percent of the state to “normal” conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Olivia Cohen covers energy and environment for The Gazette and is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. She is also a contributing writer for the Ag and Water Desk, an independent journalism collaborative focusing on the Mississippi River Basin.

Sign up for our curated, weekly environment & outdoors newsletter.

Comments: olivia.cohen@thegazette.com