Most of Michigan woke up to thick, smoky air today due to the wildfires burning in Canada, mainly in Ontario north of Thunder Bay and the Upper Peninsula. In our area, it smells like a campfire outside and there is a visible foggy haze of smoke in the air.
Tonight’s Sounds & Sights on Thursday Nights lineup has moved indoors. “The air quality has led us to relocate several performances indoors and to alternate locations around downtown Chelsea,” the Chamber of Commerce announced this afternoon. “While a few activities have been canceled, there’s still plenty of live music and entertainment to enjoy!”
The Ann Arbor Art Fair has not made any changes to their schedule as of yet. The organizers posted, “We’ll continue monitoring air quality throughout the day using guidance from the National Weather Service and working closely with area public safety officials.” Fair goers can sign up for Nixle alerts by texting A2ARTFAIR (all caps) to 888777
Update: At 3 p.m. the Art Fair posted that they have notified artists that they may operate on altered hours, closing booths on Thursday as early as 3 p.m. and reopening at noon on Friday. Noting that artists may choose to remain open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. as scheduled.
As of 1 p.m. on Thursday, Detroit ranked #1 as the most polluted city in the world, according to IQAir.com, with an Air Quality Index of 566, followed by Minneapolis (289), Chicago (259), and Toronto (241), and then Doha, Qatar (157) and Delhi, India (156).
An AQI above 300 is considered hazardous, the most severe category on the scale indicating emergency conditions for the entire area. At that level, health officials warn that everyone — not just people with existing health conditions — may experience negative health effects. Symptoms may include eye, skin, and throat irritation, headache, coughing, and an increased risk of more serious respiratory and cardiac illness. Sensitive groups are at much greater health risk and should be very cautious.
What to do:
- Stay indoors with windows closed
- Run an air purifier or air conditioner with a filter, if available
- Avoid exercise and outdoor activity
- If you must go outside, wear a snug fitting N95 or P100 respirator mask
- Watch for wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, dizziness, or burning in the eyes, nose or throat
- AirNow.gov: Current Air Quality in Chelsea, MI
- Accuweather forecast for Chelsea, MI
- MiAir forecast page
- Canadian Wildfire Information System
- MDHHS Wildfire Smoke and Your Health page.
How long will it last?
Relief looks likely starting this weekend. A cold front moving through Saturday is expected to bring showers and thunderstorms, some potentially strong, which should help push the smoke out. Meteorologists caution the improvement won’t be immediate. Some haze may linger even after the worst of it clears.
Check local weather like clickondetroit.com/weather for ongoing updates: Air Quality Alert continues through Friday for all of Southeastern Michigan
Where to track updates:
The full air quality alert from the National Weather Service:
…Air Quality Alert remains in effect Today through Friday July 17th…
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has update the Air Quality Alert. It remains in effect for today through Friday July 17, 2026, for elevated levels of fine particulate due to wildfire smoke. Concentrations will be in the Hazardous range for all areas.
This is a Statewide Air Quality Alert.
Plumes of smoke from Canadian wildfires continue to drift across the region. Elevated fine particulate due to the smoke will continue through Friday.
Everyone should seek cleaner air indoors and keep activity levels low. While indoors, take action to improve the indoor air quality such as: closing windows and minimize opening of doors, if HVAC systems are not equipped with MERV-13 filters or higher, use portable air cleaners, avoid activities that make indoor air quality worse: burning candles, using vacuums without a HEPA filter, using gas stoves more than necessary, smoking, spraying aerosol products.
If you must be outdoors for short periods of time: Wear an N95 or P100 respirator marked with “NIOSH.” The respirator should fit tightly, collapse as you breathe in and not let air in from the sides. Instructions for fitting a respirator mask properly can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/documents/respiratory_protection- no-niosh-5081.pdf
Do not use masks for children under age 2.
For up-to-date air quality data for Michigan visit the MiAir site: Michigan.gov/MiAir
For up-to-date air quality data nationally visit EPA’s Air Now site: AirNow.gov
For further health information, please see MDHHS’ Wildfire Smoke and Your Health site: https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/safety-injury-prev/environmental-health/your-health- and-wildfire-smoke
