Wildfire smoke in Illinois, Wisconsin NBC Chicago [Video]

Heavy plumes of smoke from wildfires burning in Canada, North Dakota and Minnesota will move into the Chicago area Friday, leading to hazy skies and potential air quality issues, with an air quality alert already issued for all of Wisconsin.

Illinois will begin to see — and smell — smoke from the wildfires, which have led to a state of emergency in the Canadian province of Manitoba, beginning Friday afternoon, NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman said.

“Smoke really starts to fill in around 5 p.m.,” Roman said, with thick smoke expected across Chicago’s western counties, accompanied by strong wind out of the north. “By 6 p.m., parts of our area could have heavy smoke or haze.”

At that time, the NBC 5 Storm Team’s wildfire smoke map forecast showed a band of heavy smoke stretching from the southwest part of the state to the northeast, sweeping across multiple suburbs and up towards the border …