Code Orange Air Quality Alert Issued For Charlotte Region Today

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The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has just issued a Code Orange Air Quality Alert for Mecklenburg and surrounding counties until midnight tonight due to descending smoke from the wildfires in Canada and western states:

A Code Orange Air Quality Alert for Particulate matter means ground
level Particulate matter concentrations within the region may approach
or exceed unhealthy standards. The general public is not likely to be
affected. Active children and adults, and people with a respiratory
disease such as Asthma, should limit prolonged outdoor exertion.

The reason the smoke is descending on our region this week is due to jet stream pulling up smoke from the west high into the atmosphere, then dropping it in large swaths around the South East.

The smoke will make visibility lower and make the horizon look hazy and discolored throughout the day, and especially this evening.

If you’re planning on spending an extended amount of time outside today, consider wearing an M2 particulate mask to prevent lung damage.

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