WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - The Canadian wildfires are wreaking havoc on our northern neighbors very hard this week. That smoke has now made its way to northcentral Wisconsin. Heading out the door to work or school, you're probably noticing the haze from that wildfire smoke and even smelling it.
PM2.5, also known as Particulate Matter 2.5, are fine particles suspended in the air and make its way into your lungs. With the spread of the smoke and haze from the Canadian fires, these particles are amplified and make it harder for you to breathe.
Wisconsin's current air quality advisory shows several counties, including Marathon County, under the moderate level for the air quality index. University of Wisconsin's professor of pediatrics, Dr. Balasubramaniam, says limiting outdoor activities during this time is the best thing you can do.
"This can result in an exacerbation or worsening of their underlying conditions and so the thing that they have to really keep in mind, there are a couple of things to do one make sure they're taking their daily meds," said Dr. Balasubramaniam.
Wisconsin DNR air management outreach coordinator Craig Czarnecki says even though what we're seeing this week isn't as bad as what we saw in 2023, it can still impact us.
"Watch for symptoms, coughing, shortness of breath. That would be a sign to take it easy and probably move indoors for a while," said Czarnecki.
Czarnecki lives in Madison, but the sky looks the same and the air smells just like a bonfire next door.
"You can kind of see the haze, you know, it's a little cloudy. The hazy with the sun. There's a little tinge, you know, to that sunlight. You can definitely tell there's some smoke aloft for sure," said Czarnecki.
In comparison to 2023, we're not expecting this round of lingering effects to stay around for too long. According to our NewsChannel 7 weather team, a wind shift into Saturday will help us out, but Sunday will be a different story. It'll shift toward us once again for a short period.
"It stays over Wisconsin until we get a couple of things that could happen. One would be a wind shift to a different direction that doesn't have a wildfire upstream from it. Sometimes rain can help get rid of some of this," said NewsChannel 7 Meteorologist Chad Franzen.
Chad adds that from a meteorologist point of view, they're looking at where these wildfires are, what kind of smoke is coming from it, and how it could impact our weather patterns for the next 24-36 hours.