Chicagoans woke up Tuesday to the worst air quality in the world, with thick smoke in the air and haze in the sky.
The smoke and haze are the result of the Canadian wildfires that blanketed much of the east coast with hazy, orange skies and unsafe air quality weeks ago.
The conditions are expected to continue overnight into Wednesday, but should be slowly pushed south and west throughout Tuesday, and then gradually diminish in coverage on Wednesday, according to Zachary Yack, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chicago.
Yack said wind off Lake Michigan is going to help push the smoke in a southwest direction later in the day.
“Some spots may still see some white concentration of the smoke, hint of the smoke smell maybe into tomorrow morning, but most of it should be a thinning trend as we go forward in time,” Yack said.
Smoke in ChicagoChicago’s air quality ranks worst in the world as smoke from Canada wildfires hits Midwest
Chicago air quality map
Chicago wildfire, smoke map
Contributing: Jeanine Stanucci and Grace Houck, USA TODAY