Chicago weather: Wildfire smoke brings hazy skies, warm temps
CHICAGO - Canadian wildfire smoke remains a player in Chicagoland weather today.
The sky will once again be rather hazy and it will be a very warm day with temperatures climbing into the mid 80s. In my experience, smoke can hold temperatures down between 2° and 4° from what might happen on a perfectly sunny day. The warmth will be driven all the way to the beaches. Smoke concentrations may get higher this afternoon to the point where some of it could be close enough to the ground to be smelled. That is a low-probability event, but something to keep an eye on.
Tonight will be partly cloudy and mild with hazy skies and lows in the mid 60s.
Future forecast
What's next:
Tomorrow might feature a little bit less smoke in the sky, allowing temperatures to climb a couple of degrees into the upper 80s. Regardless, today and tomorrow will be the warmest since mid-May.
Tomorrow night, especially late, there is a chance for showers and thunderstorms. Those would continue intermittently on Wednesday when cooler air will arrive. I remain thoroughly unimpressed with any risk of severe thunderstorms with this approaching system.
Another round of showers and storms will be possible Thursday night into Friday. The weekend looks dry and mild with highs mainly in the 70s.
Chicago wildfire smoke
Dig deeper:
So what happens to all of that smoke in the air? It doesn’t just disappear. There are several ways this gunk returns to earth. It’s important to first realize that smoke is actually particles. Their size is obviously very small, but some of them are larger than others. Eventually, gravity will win and that gunk will come down.
The first mechanism is called "impaction." This occurs when air currents are strong enough to force smoke particles into the ground.
"Washout" occurs when rain traps smoke particles and carries them into the soil or watershed. This can have positive or negative impacts. Nitrogen and phosphorous are nutrients for organisms but in higher concentrations they can be harmful.
Next there is "absorption" into clouds. Many particles and gases in smoke dissolve in water and are absorbed into clouds where eventually they will fall in rain or snow.
"Gravity" alone can take larger particles such as soil, ash and charcoal back to earth. This will happen more quickly than the other processes.
The Source: The information in this report came from FOX 32 Meteorologist Mike Caplan.