The all too familiar odor of distant wildfire smoke that has traveled from Canada was present early morning along with hazy skies, and an air quality index that measure 174 and 183 for much of the day, Thursday, July 31, 2025.
The Chicagoland area was under at Air Quality Alert Thursday, July 31, 2025, and the Air Quality Alert continues through Friday, Augusts 1, 2025. For part of the day the Chicago area ranked first as the worst air quality in the world, according to a world ranking by IQ Air, located in Switzerland. Air IQ published the worst measurement at 171, but Apple iPhone displays in Arlington Heights showed Air Quality Index (AQI) as high as 177. The EPA’s AirNow archive indicated the AQI reached 196 in the west and northwest suburbs of Chicago.
…AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT NOW THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT…
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued an Air Pollution Action Day for Friday August 1st for all of Illinois due to wildfire smoke.
An Illinois “Air Pollution Action Day” is declared when weather conditions are such that widespread ozone and or particulate levels are expected to be at or above the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (UGS) category of the Air Quality Index for all or almost all of Illinois.
USG – Active children and adults especially with pulmonary or respiratory disease such as asthma should limit prolonged outdoor activity.
Unhealthy – Everyone should reduce prolonged activities or heavy exertion outdoors.
Area residents are urged to reduce pollution levels. Air quality forecasts, AQI cautionary statements, current air quality, and tips on how you can reduce your emissions can be found at www.airnow.gov.
SHARE PHOTOS/VIDEO
TO CARDINAL NEWS
See the LIVE Air Quality Index …
Arlingtoncardinal.com/air
See Current US Forecast Chart Map …
Arlingtoncardinal.com/weathermap
CONUS-scale GOES-19 water vapor satellite imagery depicted broad upper-level troughing across eastern Canada and the northern Great Lakes atop an elongated surface high pressure system centered over the Upper Mississippi River Valley. The resulting pattern has allowed for pleasant conditions characterized by relatively low humidity values and seasonably cool temperatures to prevail across the region. However, the downside on this otherwise beautifully comfortable day was a hazy sky due to wildfire smoke in Canada that was rounding clockwise around the southeastern corner of the surface high. Indeed, visibilities across the region have uniformly been between 3 and 5 miles, with several locations dropping to as low as 2 miles from time to time.
Wildfire smoke from Canada has been an issue in Chicagoland much of Summer 2025.
Weather Radar throughout the day in northeast Illinois was clear.
See also Arlingtoncardinal.com/clouds
O’HARE FORECAST …
Thursday Night: Isolated showers between 10pm and 4am, then scattered sprinkles after 4am. Patchy smoke before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. East northeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Friday: Scattered sprinkles before 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. North northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light north in the evening.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Light and variable wind becoming east northeast 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 63. East northeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 81.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 84.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 82.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 84.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 69.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 87.
POLLEN COUNT …
LOYOLA MEDICINE ALLERGY COUNT
x.com/LoyolaAllergy
Loyola Medicine Allergy Count for 7-31-2025
Trees – Absent
Grass – Low
Ragweed – Absent
Weeds – Absent
Mold – High
july.chicagoweatherstation.com
Chicago Weather Forecast for your MAC/PC/TABLET includes surrounding suburbs.
^^ MOBILE? USE VOICE MIC ^^
facebook …
Please ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Page. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor
