Good afternoon, Chicago. Air quality alerts issued today in Illinois because of Canadian wildfire smoke marked the latest bout in an increasingly common summer occurrence. The alert covers 34 Illinois counties designated as having unhealthy air for all residents.

CHICAGO - Today we have an air quality alert. Unfortunately, we are in the unhealthy category to describe the air due to smoke. This may affect some members of the general public but obviously, it is a bigger threat to those that have breathing sensitivity.

An air quality alert covering the entire state of Minnesota continues on Thursday, marring otherwise fairly ideal weather conditions.