The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has issued a statewide Air Quality Action Days for Wednesday and Thursday due to smoke from western wildfires.
IDEM is forecasting high levels of fine particles and urging residents to reduce outdoor activity and avoid burning wood or starting any other unnecessary fires.
Hazy skies in the summer are nothing new in the Evansville area but the National Weather Service in Paducah says the wildfires – some of which are more than 2,000 miles away – are contributing to unusually hazy conditions.
Smoke from the fires has been picked up and carried to the east by upper-level winds.
The high smoke has resulted in eerie sunrises and sunsets, with the haze sometimes reducing the sun to an orange ball.