{"id":768322,"date":"2026-07-17T13:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/768322\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:25:15","slug":"code-red-air-quality-alert-in-effect-friday-headlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/768322\/","title":{"rendered":"Code Red air quality alert in effect Friday | Headlines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has issued a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mwcog.org\/newsroom\/2026\/07\/17\/code-purple-notice-of-very-unhealthy-air-air-quality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Code Purple air day<\/a> in the metropolitan Washington region Friday due to drifting smoke from Canadian wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>A Code Purple level means the air is very unhealthy for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Sensitive groups like people with heart or lung disease like asthma or emphysema, older adults, and children should avoid long or intense outdoor activities. Consider rescheduling or moving activities indoors. Healthy individuals should limit long or intense outdoor activities.<\/p>\n<p>Air quality levels can vary across the region, COG said in a news release. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airnow.gov\/?city=Norfolk&amp;state=VA&amp;country=USA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">AirNow website<\/a> recommends the following during wildfire events:<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Take it easier during smoky times. If you can see or smell smoke, avoid strenuous activities such as mowing the lawn or going for a run.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Reschedule outdoor work tasks and activities to a time when air quality improves. If outdoor tasks and activities cannot be rescheduled and must be conducted when air quality is poor, it is recommended that individuals reduce smoke inhalation by:<\/p>\n<p>Limiting the time spent outdoors by only performing essential activities.Taking frequent breaks indoors in places where the air is clean, especially during periods with high outdoor levels of wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"NWS wildfire smoke graphic July 2026\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1912\" height=\"1078\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6a599c44c0d92.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Courtesy National Weather Service<\/p>\n<p>If you must work outdoors, choosing a mask that will protect you like an N95 respirator mask. Cloth masks will not protect you from wildfire smoke.<\/p>\n<p>On unhealthy air days, COG advises area residents to take the following actions:<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Avoid lawn mowing or use an electric mower.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Use gas or electric grills instead of charcoal.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Fill your vehicles&#8217; gas tank after sunset.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Take transit, carpool, or work from home.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Turn off lights and electronics when not in use and follow tips from your electric utility about how to use less electricity to cool your home.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"NASA wildfire smoke July 26\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full blur\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/6a599c3faf948.image.png\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"113\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>NASA satellite image of Canadian wildfire smoke, July 2026.<\/p>\n<p>                                    NASA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments has issued a Code Purple air day in the metropolitan Washington region&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768323,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,451,79],"class_list":["post-768322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-headlines","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768322\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}