Midwest, Northeast Win Some Independence From Smoke Over Holiday Weekend

Air quality across parts of the Northeast and Midwest should continue to gradually improve over the holiday weekend, following the return of hazardous haze from Canadian wildfires earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the air was “very unhealthy” in cities including Cleveland, Indianapolis and Madison, and “unhealthy” in a stretch of several states spanning New York to Iowa, according to an Environmental Protection Agency map.

But skies have steadily cleared since.

By Thursday, Pittsburgh was the only major city with “very unhealthy” air; by Friday, the zone of “unhealthy” air had significantly decreased in size.

That trend continued into Saturday afternoon, with the band of unhealthy air continuing to shrink as it drifted over the Appalachians and no advisory at all over many Midwest cities.

Heading into Sunday, no significant pockets of “unhealthy” air were projected over either region.

But the improving air quality won't necessarily equate to blue skies heading toward Independence Day. Severe thunderstorms were projected for stretches of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys on Saturday afternoon and evening, with the system set to rumble east on Sunday.