The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has included northwest Indiana in the agency’s Air Quality Action Day forecast for Thursday, June 20.

In northwest Indiana, ozone levels are expected to be in the unhealthy range (orange) for sensitive groups, including the cities of Crown Point, Gary, Hammond, Kentland, LaPorte, Michigan City, Portage, Rensselaer, Valparaiso and all other cities in the region.

Inland south of Lake Michigan, highs of over 90 degrees Fahrenheit are expected again on Thursday. Combined with slightly lower humidity in the afternoon, light and variable winds and the possibility of a lake breeze, this could lead to an increase in ozone levels in the region.

On Tuesday, IDEM announced that the agency is forecasting an action day to improve air quality in four additional areas of the state on Thursday. In addition to northwest Indiana, ozone levels are expected to be in the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” (orange) range in the following areas:

  • Central/East Central Indiana, including the cities of Bloomington, Brookville, Columbus, Frankfort, Indianapolis, Greensburg, Kokomo, Lebanon, Martinsville, Muncie, Richmond and all other cities in the region.
  • Southeast Indiana, including the cities of Brownstown, Corydon, Jeffersonville, Madison, New Albany, Salem, Versailles and all other cities in the region.
  • Southwest Indiana, including the cities of: Bedford, Bloomfield, Evansville, Huntingburg, Mount Vernon, Paoli, Princeton, Rockport, Tell City, Vincennes and all other cities in the region.
  • Western/West Central Indiana including the cities of: Crawfordsville, Covington, Delphi, Fowler, Greencastle, Lafayette, Newport, Monticello, Spencer, Sullivan, Terre Haute and all other cities in the region.

Indiana residents can visit SmogWatch.IN.gov to:

Air Quality Action Days are in effect from midnight to 11:59 p.m. (24 hours) on the specified date. Some communities have additional restrictions on open burning at AQADs. For more information, visit idem.IN.gov/openburning/laws-and-rules.