WEST MICHIGAN — The faint smell gives it away, but the reduced visibility is the real kicker. The Alberta Wildfires have been burning, bringing wildfire smoke to much of the Midwest over the last week. Most of the smoke has stayed far up in the atmosphere, while crossing over West Michigan.
It was anticipated that rain showers on Friday would mitigate the potential for wildfire smoke to make it to the surface, however that has not been the case. Friday afternoon, skies behind a cold front bringing scattered showers began to part. This created clearer skies and a gap between the surface and the upper atmosphere. The upper atmosphere is where the Canadian wildfire smoke has been living. This gap has allowed the smoke to spill to the surface, allowing parts of West Michigan to have reduced visibility.
That smoke is currently descending to parts of Muskegon, hindering visibility along the lake shore. According to the National Weather Service Grand Rapids, the smoke is manifesting in the form of smog as it reaches the surface, this happens when smoke aerosols are able to function as drop nucleii in the presence of higher relative humidity.
The visibility has dropped to about 2 miles in Muskegon. We'll continue to monitor the visibility as the smoke migrates east.
Winds at the surface are westerly between 5 to 15 miles an hour. This surface wind will help move the smoke easterly as well.
Air quality remains moderate in Muskegon. Its forecast to stay in the moderate category until tomorrow.
The smoke is expected to be the most dense this evening until 8 P.M. After this evening, we can expect smoke to lift and move eastward.
