WARSAW — Wildfire smoke that moved across the Midwest Thursday, causing significant health concerns, is expected to begin dissipating in north central Indiana by late Friday morning. 

An air quality alert issued by the National Weather Service remains in effect across northern Indiana until midnight.

The National Weather Service predicts smoke will begin to dissipate by around 10 a.m.

Overnight, airnow.gov, which tracks air quality by zip code, listed the air quality in Warsaw as very unhealthy. 

The smoke darkened skies Thursday from the Great Lakes to the East Coast, reducing visibility and prompting warnings that breathing the air outside could be dangerous. 

Officials in many cities urged residents to remain inside or wear masks outside as air quality reached unhealthy and hazardous levels.

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WARSAW — On top of 90-degree temperatures today, the region is also dealing with wildfire smoke from Ontario, Canada and northern Minnesota.

The smoke was expected to move into the area overnight and is the reason for an air quality alert issued for today for Kosciusko County and areas to the north.

 The smoke brings with it fine particulate matter that is expected to create unhealthy conditions as well as increased ozone levels that can affect some people.

Officials predict you'll actually be able to smell the smoke today and if you're driving you're encouraged to use your car's air recirculation button to reduce smoke exposure from the outside air.

Warnings about unhealthy air conditions Wednesday extended from Minnesota through Toronto and into New York. Unusually hot summer temperatures were expected, too.

The best advice is to stay indoors to avoid both the smoke and the extreme heat, said Tyler Hasenstein, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

“Those two things coinciding with each other is not good from a health perspective,” he said.

The Associated Press reports that thousands of visitors were told to evacuate a remote Minnesota wilderness area accessible only by boat as wildfires send dangerously heavy smoke over the U.S. Midwest and Northeast this week.

More than 100 wildfires are burning in Canada, where a train crew in northern Ontario filmed themselves surrounded by flames before being safely evacuated. Winds are carrying the smoke southeast.

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