Wildfire smoke causing unhealthy air in Missouri

(Learfield) – Air quality alerts are in effect for Kansas City and St. Louis due to Canadian wildfire smoke. Josh Vander Veen is with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

“Smoke is being really dragged down nationally and it’s really kind of even affecting a large portion of Missouri right now, even down into into southern Missouri. Wildfire smoke has made the sky hazy. Air Quality is considered unhealthy in St. Louis and Kansas City for sensitive groups.

“After that front moved through, we’re getting some northerly flow and we’re getting some air transport that looks like from Canada, where there’s some wildfires occurring.”

The air quality index map showed “good” to “moderate” conditions in Missouri over the past few weeks. The map now shows areas of “red.” When the A-Q-I hits red, its recommended that outdoor activities be held to a minimum.