Smoke from the wildfires

Well, if you listen to the "talking heads" on the news, even though we are seeing the haze, it is so high in the jet stream that it doesn't really affect our air quality. My family's touchy lungs tell a slightly different story - more coughing, wheezing, etc. But remember we are also in the height of ragweed season, which also can play havoc with sensitive lungs.
So you are right, it is a bad time for lungs, but my guess is that it's a combination of seasonal pollen & the smoke- a double whammy.
Sue

@tinaesims I'm in Illinois too and I think you are right. I've been doing my allergy shots that covers the ragweed and I can smell smoke every now and then. After I'm out for a bit, I need my inhaler. Inside, I have HEPA filters running and no issues. I've also seen the sun get lost in the smoke before it sets below the horizon when there are no clouds. Hopefully rainy weather will help the firefighting sometime soon. It must be so much worse out west.

I'm also in Illinois. On Tuesday, the news said that the smoke had reached us but was so high up that it didn't have any effect on us down below. They said that the skies would be white and the sun hazy. However, that same afternoon, I had a yard visit with relatives and the sky was bright blue and the sun so bright that we had to move our spaced chairs under a tree. Then the weather turned really cool suddenly and the wind where I am is strong and I have increased mucus. Changes in weather affect me.

Rita, you can look up the air quality numbers for your area by Googling it. You can also look up the past 12 months chart for it to see if it is higher than normal. It is usually measured in numbers.

For people with sensitive lungs, when the air quality index is over 101 it is considered unhealthy for us. In parts of Oregon the index was in the 700’s a couple days ago.

Yes Terri. Airnow.gov. We have had really clean air lately, green and once in a while yellow.

Hi Jennifer and Rita. Where do you live in Illinois? I live in Moline.

@Hi Tina. I live in northern Illinois northwest of Chicago and not far from the WI border.

Hi Tina, I live in Chicago near Wrigley Field.

My son and family live on Clarke and Goethe. Before COVID we were there quite a bit. The train used to be a beautiful thing.