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Chicago wildfire smoke: Here's when the hazardous air is expected to clear
JD Rudd has your weather update!
CHICAGO - This wildfire smoke has been unbelievable across much of the Chicago area today. And yes, record-setting. The Air Quality Index (AQI) values we've seen today far surpass anything we have had in recent years, including June 2023 when things were (at the time) pretty impressive around here. Go back through the photo memories on your phone and see.
Matter of fact, some of the AQI numbers in Chicagoland today weren't too far away from all-time records across the globe. Just stunning.
How long will the wildfire smoke last?
The biggest question now: how long is this smoke sticking around? Plan on it to be with us through the night tonight and most of Friday morning. Then, by Friday afternoon, we should start scrubbing out that smoke from west to east. By evening, most of it should be gone and we can all breathe a little better.
Outside of that, we do have a chance for some spotty to widely scattered pockets of rain and thunder in the area. Brief heavy rain may be possible for some. Also, some wind gusts near 40 to 45 miles per hour may be possible in any stronger storms that develop. In general, however, severe weather is not expected Friday. Highs will be near 90 and with the humidity, it may feel like the upper 90s.
Looking ahead:
Turning to Saturday, it will still be humid and hot with a fair amount of sunshine. That is until a cold front comes through in the afternoon. That front may help to spark some thunderstorms and some of those could be strong to severe. Damaging wind gusts would be the biggest threat.
Behind the front, it's possible we see a little bit of smoke make a return. If we do, it should remain higher aloft in the sky this time around.
Sunday will be cooler compared to Saturday with highs in the middle 80s and a partly cloudy sky.
Highs could get back closer to 90 on Monday with another chance for some spotty thunderstorms.
Looking farther into the week, highs should slip in the 80s with a partly cloudy sky. We may actually see a few days with below average highs for this time of year. Overnight lows should fall into the 60s as well.