WEST MICHIGAN — Over the last week, and Summer as a whole, Michigan's atmosphere has been a hot spot for wildfire smoke from Canadian flames.
In Grand Rapids, the Air Quality Index, which measures particle pollution in the air, was over 100 AQI six of the last seven days! This is the most persistent poor air quality West Michigan has seen on record.
Even more concerning, The U.P. has seen nine days straight with an Air Quality Advisory, and isn't seeing immediate improvements like southern Michigan.
Across the state, we've seen more statements for poor quality in 2025 than all of 2023, which was very memorable for hazy skies from wildfire smoke. These numbers are for smoke-related issuance's only. We have had others for poor ozone, but those are influenced by high heat & humidity, not necessarily smoke.
Conditions are gradually improving as we head into the weekend, with only moderate levels (50-99 AQI) forecast through Sunday.
We may see Ozone levels reach unhealthy status come the weekend, read more about our next heat wave HERE.
The worst air quality on record in Grand Rapids was March of 2025, when levels exceed 450 AQI and visibility was very low from dust swept in from the southern plains.
For the latest details on the weather in West Michigan, head to the FOX 17 Weather page.
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