ILLINOIS (WAND) - The National Weather Service confirmed the cause of smoke in the air seen Friday across central Illinois.Â
People had started to notice the conditions earlier Friday. Before noon, a post in the Illinois Storm Community Facebook page pointed to hazy conditions in the air by Warrensburg and Niantic.Â
NWS officials in Lincoln said these conditions were caused by smoke from brush fires in local areas, dirt and debris from area harvesting and southwest winds. In addition, they said a "milky sky 5-6 miles aloft" was caused by western U.S. fires.Â
The NWS said it initially believed prairie grass burning in the Lake Springfield area was causing the haze, but corrected that statement in a later tweet to say such burning happened Thursday instead of Friday.
UPDATE on smoke & haze: Grass burning was NOT being done in Springfield today, but rather yesterday. However, smoke from many brush fires in local spots along with dirt/debris from harvesting and SW wind was the cause. Also, milky sky 5-6 miles aloft is from western fires. #ILwx
— NWS Lincoln IL (@NWSLincolnIL) October 9, 2020
