SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) -- Yet another Air Quality Alert is going into effect for Metro Detroit on Tuesday, the Fourth of July.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy says elevated levels of ozone are expected in Wayne. Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Washtenaw, Lenawee and Monroe Counties — all included in this alert.
A Clean Air Action Day has also been declared for Tuesday for all of Southeast Michigan, as EGLE says pollutants are expected to be in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range.
People and businesses are urged to avoid activities like refueling vehicles or topping off when refueling, using gasoline powered lawn equipment, and using charcoal lighter fluid.
It is also recommended that active children and adults, and people with respiratory diseases such as asthma, limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy senior Meteorologist Jim Haywood told WWJ's Tony Ortiz this alert is similar to what was used to be called an "Ozone Action Day."
"We first started the forecasting program back in 1994, and at the time the only pollutant that we were forecasting was ozone, so therefore it made sense to call it an Ozone Action Day," Haywood explained. "In the early 2000s EPA added fine particulates — the really, really small stuff that can get into your lungs — as a regulated pollutant, and we wanted to include that in our forecasting program, so it didn't make any sense to call it an Ozone Action Day anymore because now we have two pollutants that we're forecasting."
"So, that was the simplest thing just to call it Clean Air Action day," he said.
This comes after smoke from Canadian wildfires left Detroit among the cities with the worst air quality in the world last week — although Haywood said Tuesday's alert is not in connection with the wildfire smoke.
"Tomorrow is strictly an ozone forecast," Haywood said. "The smoke that's really been giving us fits the last week or two kind of moved off the the east. We've gotten a wind shift, so we're not getting to be the primary recipient of the smoke coming down from Canada, which has pretty much been pushed off to the east coast."
Tuesday, Haywood said, Metro Detroit will be back to what he called "our typical summer ozone problem" — although any leftover particles from the fires won't help matters.
"It's sort of one of those things when all of the stars are aligning," Haywood said. "The weather patterns, the amount of pollution that's still in the air...And, so add that all up and we're looking at what we think is going to be a fairly high ozone day tomorrow."
The AccuWeather forecast for Tuesday calls for a hot and humid day in the Detroit area, with a high near 90 degrees.
To hear the latest forecast every 10 minutes, listen to WWJ Newsradio 950 on the free Audacy App, or tell your smart speaker to "play WWJ nine-fifty."
Check the current air quality near you at this link.
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