Air Quality Alert issued as wildfire smoke looms overhead

The last few days have had a particularly dim look to the sky. And the big culprit is Canadian wildfires. 

 The smoke particles are getting caught up aloft and carried this way on the Jetstream. It's the reason the days look gray and the sunrise and sunsets have had a brilliant color. It's also part two of the reason (along with the lake breeze) we've stayed a bit cool as we don't have that clear sky for the sun's rays to really work their magic heating us up. As a result the Wisconsin DNR has issued an Air Quality alert. It's in effect statewide. The alert will continue until Friday night at midnight. You can see the effects are ongoing across a lot of the region. Thankfully, we have a cold front lurking to our west. It will sweep out the air and deliver a chance for showers early Friday morning. Until then if you have heart or lung problems it's best to limit time outdoors until the smoke clears.

I'm meteorologist Rebecca Schuld