Goshen, Elkhart included in state air quality alert
Jun. 28—INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued an Air Quality Action Day in the Unhealthy Air Quality Index range and is forecasting high levels of fine particles (PM2.5) in the air for today across much of Indiana, including for the cities of Goshen and Elkhart.
Current air monitor readings across the state are rising as the Canadian wildfire plume moves from north to south. Forecast models are all pointing toward very high levels today.
Maddie Johnson, a meteorologist with the national weather service of Northern Indiana, says Indiana and surrounding states, as of Tuesday evening, are seeing some of the worst air quality in the nation.
"That's because of wildfire smoke coming from Canada," Johnson said, adding that residents should limit time outdoors if possible, stay hydrated and don't open windows. "Air quality in our area has ranged from unhealthy to very unhealthy, levels four and five out of six, on the air quality index."
Expects the wildfire smoke to gradually start to clear out Thursday, due to shift in wind gusts which will become more southeasterly, along with rain forecast for Thursday which should help clear out some of the smoke.
Affected regions include:
* Central/East Central Indiana, including the cities of: Bloomington, Brookville, Columbus, Frankfort, Indianapolis, Greensburg, Kokomo, Lebanon, Martinsville, Muncie, Richmond and all other cities within the area.
* North Central Indiana, including the cities of: Elkhart, Goshen, Knox, Logansport, Plymouth, Peru, South Bend, Warsaw, Winamac and all other cities within the area.
* Northeast Indiana, including the cities of: Angola, Auburn, Decatur, Fort Wayne, Hartford, Huntington City, LaGrange, Marion, Portland, Wabash and all other cities within the area.
* Northwest Indiana, including the cities of: Crown Point, Gary, Hammond, Kentland, LaPorte, Michigan City, Portage, Rensselaer, Valparaiso and all other cities within the area.
* Southeast Indiana, including the cities of: Brownstown, Corydon, Jeffersonville, Madison, New Albany, Salem, Versailles and all other cities within the area.
* Southwest Indiana, including the cities of: Bedford, Bloomfield, Evansville, Huntingburg, Mount Vernon, Paoli, Princeton, Rockport, Tell City, Vincennes and all other cities within the area.
* Western/West Central Indiana, including the cities of: Crawfordsville, Covington, Delphi, Fowler, Greencastle, Lafayette, Newport, Monticello, Spencer, Sullivan, Terre Haute and all other cities within the area.
A state map including regions and affected counties is available at SmogWatch.IN.gov.
