Canada is experiencing some of its worst forest fires in years, and the season is far from over. The effects are visible throughout the Midwest, including in Milwaukee. More than 4,000 fires have been reported so far in 2015, most in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, burning through more than a million hectares of land - more than double last year’s numbers.
UWM Meteorologist Mike Westendorf says conditions have been perfect to carry the residue here.
“Well first of all there has to be a lot of it, and then you need the jet stream to be able to direct it south. All this spring we’ve had a constant intrusion of cold Canadian air; it happens on a weekly basis,” Westendorf says.
Westendorf says, in some places, the smoke is thick enough to cause the temperature to drop slightly and to cause breathing difficulties - particularly for people with respiratory problems such as asthma. For residents living closer to the fires, such as Sharon Chimeleski, a resident of Hackensack - a small town in northern Minnesota, they've sometimes had to keep their doors and windows closed.
"Our brother-in-law had trouble sleeping and we noticed some people were taking allergy pills and stuff, which we did because of the breathing and the runny nose and eyes.”
In Milwaukee, the haze is just slightly dimming summertime activities.
"I call it the Mordor effect. If you follow Lord of the Rings, the land of Mordor was supposed to be an ashen-covered sky, where you couldn’t see the blue sky and you couldn’t see the starlight at night. I’ve personally found it kind of weird. You walk outside and it feels like you’re in a great big tent. Like the sky is missing. The sun is there, there’s a few clouds there, but the blue is missing,” Westendorf says.
But the effects aren't all bad.
"You have a large particulate matter that filters out colors of the spectrum, that’s why you can’t see the blue sky. What you get in exchange for it is fantastic sunsets with some very red skies at night. The sun is almost like a blood red at times. So enjoy that while it’s happening," Westendorf advises.