KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Another day, another batch of wildfire smoke.
After a brief reprieve from the more noticeable wildfire smoke Saturday morning, another plume had drifted back in by the evening.
A statewide air quality alert was issued by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for Sunday, July 19, 2026.
Forecasters with EGLE said near-surface wildfire smoke was expected to reduce air quality to the unhealthy for sensitive groups or unhealthy range.
A statewide air quality alert was issued by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for Sunday, July 19, 2026. Near-surface wildfire smoke is expected to reduce air quality to the unhealthy for sensitive groups or unhealthy range. (WWMT)
While the air quality is not expected to get anywhere near the unprecedented numbers we saw on Thursday and Friday, it still warrants paying attention to.
At the unhealthy range, the EPA recommends the following to protect yourself:
People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens – take any of these steps to reduce your exposure:
Avoid strenuous outdoor activities.Keep outdoor activities short.Consider moving physical activities indoors or rescheduling them.
Everyone else – take any of these steps to reduce your exposure:
Choose less strenuous activities (like walking instead of running) so you don’t breathe as hard.Shorten the amount of time you are active outdoors.Be active outdoors when air quality is better.
According to the statewide alert, Michiganders should watch for symptoms including wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, dizziness, or burning in nose, throat, and eyes.
A look at projected wildfire smoke plumes for 4 p.m. Sunday, July 19, 2026. Smoke is expected to linger throughout the day Sunday, and could stick around into Monday as well. (WWMT)
Forecasters with EGLE said similar trends look to continue into Monday, with additional air quality alerts likely.
Other tips from EGLE include:
Limit outdoor burningKeep windows closed overnightRun central air conditioning with MERV-13 or higher rated filters
The smoke stems from wildfires currently ongoing in parts of Canada, especially in Ontario. A few additional fires have occurred in recent days in the far northern part of Minnesota as well.
An approaching front brings our next round of storms by late Monday night through Tuesday morning. This presents our next best chance to flush out some of this smoke.
The pattern in the week ahead looks promising to see some rain across portions of central Canada as well, including Ontario. Time will tell whether this helps damper some of the wildfires ongoing to our north and northwest.