First Chicago weather alert: Air quality is the worst in the country

Chicago (CBS) – A north wind pushed in another round of Canadian Wildfire smoke into the area.

As of 4 p.m. Monday, air quality has fallen to the red, or unhealthy, category. The Chicago area’s air quality ranked as the worst in the country late Monday.

As of 10 p.m., Chicago’s air quality index was 156 — the second worst in the world, as measured by iQair. Chicago came in after Lahore, Pakistan, with 175. Jakarta, Indonesia, came third, with 139.

Throughout the evening, heavy smoke reduced visibility.

Northern areas from Milwaukee to Green Bay were also affected.

according to airnow.gov:

People with heart or lung disease, the elderly, children and adolescents Take any of these steps to reduce exposure:

• Avoid strenuous outdoor activities.
• Keep outdoor activities short.
• Consider moving or rescheduling physical activities indoors.

anyone else – Takes Any of these steps to reduce your exposure:

• Choose activities that are less strenuous (like walking instead of running) so you’re not out of breath.
• Shorten the amount of time you are active outdoors.
• Get active outdoors when the air quality is best.

Smoky skies and poor air quality are expected to continue through Tuesday. Models indicate that this latest round of smoke may be much thicker than what we dealt with earlier this month.

Some improvement is expected by Wednesday morning.