For those in the smoke, how are you coping?

[Delarage]

AQI is bad here in Delaware, so I've stayed inside the last two days. I have an IQair HEPA filter that I use to keep the indoor air as clean as possible. Playing a lot with our dog to keep her healthy/happy. It's also forcing me to continue my cleaning/organizing 🤷‍♂️. Hopefully the impending storms will help!

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Chicago AQI Is Now 66

It was 701 at 7:30pm last night.
So, way better!

[Delarage]

2. That's great!

There is hope 👍

[Morbius]

17. The rain helped.

It didn't rain much but it cleared the air more than a little.

[Ocelot II]

3. It's better today, but yesterday was terrible. I went out for only a short time

wearing one of the N-95 masks I'd fortunately saved from the pandemic, and that really helped filter out the burning plastic smell. Still made my eyes water, though.

[Delarage]

4. I have some N95s

Also.... I will use them if I have to go out before it clears up. I had to work yesterday but I was indoors. Off today and the weekend so I can hunker down if need be.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Going out only when absolutely necessary.

Taking dog out for potty and such. Today isn’t as bad (NE OH) as yesterday. We were only in the Very Unhealthy category today, yesterday most of the day was Hazardous (Airnow.gov)

[FadedMullet]

6. AQI in Spokane Washington right now is 270 or 280, so "very unhealthy". Very hazy and strong smell of smoke.

[Biophilic]

7. Talked with my sister in Ann Arbor.

She said the a/c is working great she’s been outside a couple of times. Not great but doable. Also the week of major art fair. A friend drove by and said it appeared busy. We human beings do tend to adapt whether it’s good for us or not.

[31j20b3]

8. Smoke was bad at dawn at the moment the sky looks blue and the sun is bright

The wind is steady out of the west southwest.

That will change and on Sunday the forecast is back to smoke as the wind becomes out of the north as a low pressure moves through WI

[doc03]

9. This morning the AQI was 327 here in Steubenville Ohio now 311. The smoke burns my eyes. On top of that

The humidity is high. Tonight we are supposed get storms I hope that clears it up some.

[waterwatcher123]

10. It is around 200 on the AQI index in NE MN. All the decent furnance filters are sold out and masks gone everywhere.

We constructed a makeshift indoor filter with a Merv13 furnace filter and a box fan. Amazingly, it is already starting to turn black in two days. Our house is pretty tight too - typically use an air-to-air exchanger to continuously bring in fresh air.

[Greybnk48]

11. This morning we were over 400 in NE Wisconsin. It's 155 now and is a relief.

Our dogs don't even want to go out. We're getting a bit of a break in the smoke right now because of a southerly wind. But with that came heat and humidity, and it's still not healthy. So, in brief, it sucks. I can only imagine how awful it is for our friends up north in the U.P. and Canada.

From the sounds of it, Sunday will be nice, then more smoke for us after that.

[Delarage]

15. I feel bad for my dog

She is a nature enthusiast... And has to waste days of her life trapped inside because of Repukes and their addiction to the money that flows from oil companies.

[electric_blue68]

12. We're (NYC) lucky right now after 4 days of nasty smoke....

There are States/areas north west that were/are worse than us.

AirNow.org's Fire & Smoke map is showing - 31(Green) for good. So zmi'm going out to sit in our lovely backyard.

I'm out here now. 🌳🥰🌳

[Xavier Breath]

13. The Dayton (Oh) area recorded a 451 this afternoon, setting a new record for us.

But, a band of t-storms moved through and cleared out most of the crap and we're now at a much better 61. It's a night and day difference in a few hours.

[Delarage]

14. Eek

We've been in the 200's, currently just under. Not looking like we'll be below 100 anytime soon 👎

[Golden Raisin]

16. Here in NYC (Manhattan) better than yesterday

when the category was officially "Very Unhealthy". Limiting time outdoors today to minimum. Eyes irritated and stinging.

[Raftergirl]

18. It was definitely better today in upstate NY, but I got an air quality notification for tonight until 12:30am. I had the

windows open all day, but I shut them and turned on the AC. I did walk the dog around 7:00 and it was ok.

We also have an air purifier which is always on.

Stormy weather tomorrow so hopefully that will help things out over the next few days.

[Jedi Guy]

19. It's getting better here in southwestern Ontario.

On Wednesday it was downright eerie in downtown Toronto what with the orange-sepia cast to the light and the unnatural darkness.

Yesterday here in Hamilton it was pretty bad.

Today in downtown Toronto it was almost normal apart from a little bit of a smoky smell in the air. It was significantly worse in Hamilton when I got off the train.

The smoke didn't bother me in terms of breathing, thankfully, but I've seen a great many people wearing masks and the trains were a lot less crowded than usual, so I suspect a lot of people are working from home rather than going into the city.

Like your doggo, ours is suffering from a bit of cabin fever. Between the heatwave and the smoke he hasn't gotten a proper walk since late Monday night. Hopefully things will get better after the rain tomorrow and we'll be able to take him for a good long ramble in the park on Sunday.

[Jack Valentino]

20. The day it hit me in mid-Michigan, I had opened most of my windows,

trying to cool the upstairs of the house during the night,
since we had been in a heat wave---

when I woke up, I could smell the smoke in the house,
and ran around making sure nothing was actually burning up---

the smell most reminded me of the time when my electric water heater burned out---
within a few days after I had move in permanently---

(Actually I was GLAD that the electric water heater died,
so I could replace it with natural gas--- I had lived with
an electric water heater before, and it's electricity costs---
and didn't want to do it again)

Once I figured out the problem, I of course closed all the windows---
or did it before I figured out the problem, since that was my plan anyway---
and didn't spend much or any time outside after that---


Now, as far as smoke coming from distant fires in the Canadian northwest,
this was the MOST I have ever seen here, and the MOST I could actually SMELL!

I used a mask to walk to the store last night... tonight, I couldn't smell it anymore---

but the SMOKE yesterday, was like FOG....