After Canadian wildfires brought extremely poor air quality to Detroit in the summers of 2023 and 2025, Michigan is updating how it communicates air quality risks to residents this year.
The state is streamlining a system that has evolved with the emergence of severe smoke impacts. The state will issue an air quality alert anytime fine particulate matter or ozone levels climb into the federal Air Quality Index’s “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” or orange range, said Jim Haywood, senior meteorologist with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, Energy (EGLE).
