SmokeDarLansing wildfire smoke and air quality
Live readings for Lansing, Michigan: whether wildfire smoke is overhead, what the surface air measures, and how the next five days look. Free, no signup, no ads.
How smoke reaches Lansing
Lansing, in mid-Michigan, gets Canadian smoke that has already crossed a Great Lake or two, so plumes tend to arrive high and diluted. The state's flat interior offers little to stir them, and hazy-sun days without a surface spike are the common pattern here. That is why SmokeDar reports two numbers for Lansing: smoke aloft (modeled aerosol optical depth from Copernicus CAMS) and surface air (PM2.5 and US AQI, observed AirNow monitor data when a monitor is nearby). They are different things, and they often disagree.
What the numbers mean
AQI 0–50 is good and 51–100 is moderate; ordinary days. From 101–150, sensitive groups (kids, older adults, pregnant people, anyone with heart or lung conditions) should shorten hard outdoor exercise. Above 150, everyone should cut both time and intensity outdoors. The full playbook is in the Smoke Guide.