It did seem a little smoky out there today. Actually, a lot. More than I can remember, at least since I spent a smoky day in downtown Portland, Oregon some years ago. Or come to think of it, a very hazy day in Illinois only about three years ago.

The view from my deck this afternoon.

Official notice for today and tomorrow: The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued a Red Forecast Air Pollution Action Day for Friday July 17th for the AirNow AQI forecast sectors of Rockford and all 6 Chicago area forecast sectors. This is in addition to downgrade of the ongoing action day to a Purple Forecast Air Pollution Action Day in effect today.

AQI is Air Quality Index and the thing is color coded.

So today we had Purple Haze, “Very Unhealthy.” Shouldn’t Red be the worst? Maybe the committee of weathermen and atmospheric scientists who invented the AQI considered the matter, and decided that Purple is worse. And worst of all? Maroon. True, I would alarmed if I stepped out into maroon-colored air, but we know things aren’t quite so literal.

Today’s air would have looked foggy, except it doesn’t get thicker at a distance. The smoke is evenly distributed, at least outside my back door. A smell of barbecue comes with the gray mist, except without any hint of the better, and sometimes wonderful smell of grilled meat.

Sunset on Tuesday, though of course my camera didn’t really capture it.

Sunset today, same caveat. Also, a different place, but we weren’t about to talk a walk around the same lake on a Purple Forecast Air Pollution Action Day.

The color looks ordinary, but the sun’s disk, embedded in the gray mist, was a rarely seen red-yellow-orange.