PSA- Chicagoland

To anyone in the Chicagoland area-

If you haven't already, I highly suggest you get a furnace filter with a Merv 13 rating or higher. (we picked some up this morning in preparation of this occurring) The air quality in Chicago is the worst in the nation right now, due to the fires in Canada. And it is supposed to get worse going into tomorrow.

Don't go outside if you don't need to, and if you know anyone with breathing or heart issues, please check on them.

https://fire.airnow.gov/

https://firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current/

Fricking Eh - add more E36 M3 to my week.

Thanks for the reminder. We are also running the air purifier in the house. Thinking about getting another one for the bedrooms. 

Yeah man. It sucks here even more than usual.

Luckily I had a brand new MERV 13 filter ready to go. 
 

We are getting replacement filters for our air purifier tomorrow, it is currently in kiddos room. Additionally, I am going to make one of these tomorrow: 

Is this all overkill? Probably. But the wife has asthma, and lung problems aren't fun. 

Funny how when the air quality in NYC turned that metro area into something approximating a Martian landscape, it was all over the media, but now that it's happening in Chi-town, I haven't heard boo about it.  

Chicago really is the Rodney Dangerfield of cities.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

I don't know if this is as bad as New York had it earlier, and to be fair, it looks like NYC will likely get hit again later this week.

Yeah, it's a bit foggy out here.

That's not fog. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-air-quality-currently-worst-in-world/

volvoclearinghouse said:

Chicago really is the Rodney Dangerfield of cities.  

Detroit says "this just proves our point."

Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself said:

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

I don't know if this is as bad as New York had it earlier, and to be fair, it looks like NYC will likely get hit again later this week.

Agreed. Depending on what numbers I'm seeing online, New York was at least 10% worse a few weeks ago than Chicago is today. And, it was breakign news for the country back then... Not so much right now, though it is all over the local news. 

Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself said:

That's not fog. 

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-air-quality-currently-worst-in-world/

Yes, I'm well aware it's not fog and already did my morning walk. Trying to decide if I go to the car show tonight.

I'm In Grand Rapids Michigan, very foggy here also.  My eyes burn and I'm developing a cough.   We are pumping as much smoke as we can in to the building beause that's what we do.  Meanwhile SWMBO has a super mega air purifier system at her office leftover from the Covid era.

It's an odd haze down the road.

Yeah, my buddy said he's going to pass on the show tonight since his eyes started burning.

As a west coaster who goes through that amount of smoke too often, I feel for you guys. It really does suck. Hopefully y'all have AC so you can keep the windows closed and stay cool with filtered air.

Merv 13 installed, now back to work in the smoke house.  Level was 265, that's purple on the scale, down to 193 this morning.  Smells a little less smoky.

My question is, as a guy that mows his lawn and wants to know if it's going to rain, how is the smoke making it to Chicago and Michigan when the wind and weather patterns have been west to east pretty regularly for the last week or so?

Yeah, I had to go 1.5 hours west this morning to visit a plant and kept switching between recirculate and "fresh air" in the truck.

QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:

My question is, as a guy that mows his lawn and wants to know if it's going to rain, how is the smoke making it to Chicago and Michigan when the wind and weather patterns have been west to east pretty regularly for the last week or so?

We were 180 yesterday, 265 today. 

QuasiMofo (John Brown) said:

My question is, as a guy that mows his lawn and wants to know if it's going to rain, how is the smoke making it to Chicago and Michigan when the wind and weather patterns have been west to east pretty regularly for the last week or so?

Watch this link.

EDIT~ Was able to find a forecast from earlier in the week




A low pressure system went through the area this week which brought the smoke from the north east.

 

In reply to Russian Warship, Go Berkeley Yourself :

I call B.S. I feel the same pressure as always.

This is nothing but Environmental terrorism.  Canada is coming for us.   You have to ask yourself who warmed the oceans, melted the glaciers, pushed for electric cars.  They set these fires to push the agenda and prove climate change.  AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Just kidding, I'm not into conspiracy unless it is really wild and entertaining.

Please don't banish me, just wanted to stir the fire.

P.S.  193 on the smoke scale is almost comfortable, compared to yesterday.

As someone who lives near a national forest that regularly does proscribed burns, meh. we end up with smoke blowing through the neighborhood several times a year. 

IIRC, South Carolina DNR and forestry companies do proscribed burns to something like half a million acres a year to reduce the amount of fuel on the ground for wildfires.  

It's just some smoke. I probably breathe more than that sitting around campfires every year. 

I do feel for the asthma people though. It can be kind of rough on them. 

As I told my kids last night, their mom and I used to go to bars in the 90s. This is nothing.