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Originally posted by wtg:
Ingenious, pj!

quote:

Originally posted by pianojuggler:

I still haven't heard I-1 say anything about the fires. I am guessing that like the early days of the pandemic, Jared or Stephen Miller or both are saying not to bother because they are only hitting the blue states that don't vote red.

He told folks at his rally Thursday night that the forest fires are a result of poor forest management.

Get your broom out and sweep the forest floor.

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Smoke from fires hundreds of miles away can billow high into the atmosphere and get carried to other regions by jet streams and winds aloft, causing cloudier skies and slightly cooler temperatures. Mid- and upper-level winds were carrying smoke this week from the West and Northwest into the Chicago area, creating the same effect.

“It’s not that it’s affecting our air quality (at the) surface,” Ratzer said. “You’re not able to smell it or anything like that, but it has created kind of a smoke layer aloft which is keeping the sun rather dim.”


It’s difficult to predict how long the smoke will linger above northern Illinois based on current models, Ratzer said. It could be here for a few days, though it may not remain as thick over time.

The duration will be dependent on how long the fires out west last, forecasters said. The widespread nature of the smoke suggests the Chicago region’s upper-level atmosphere will remain at least slightly affected for several days to come.

“There’s really not that much in the way of cloud cover over the area,” Ratzer said. “But if you look outside, it almost has the appearance of a real high, kind of faint overcast. It is kind of blocking some of the light of the sun.”

That blockage could make temperatures a few degrees cooler, but it shouldn’t be cause for alarm, he added.

“It’s not something we deal with too often here (but) it is something we see," Ratzer said. “Sometimes it’s more visible in the sunrise and sunset, (which) tends to be more reddish when you have the particulate up in the air there.”