Holmes County under heat and air quality advisories Wednesday

Holmes County was under a Heat Advisory from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, while an Air Quality Advisory ran from midnight Tuesday night through midnight Wednesday night. The National Weather Service in Cleveland put heat index values at up to 104 degrees, putting the hardest risk on outdoor workers, older adults, young children and anyone with asthma, heart disease or other breathing sensitivities.

Wildfire smoke drifting down from Ontario, Canada was expected to add haze across Northeast Ohio and make the air feel worse than the thermometer suggested. The smoke could blur the sky and make sunrises and sunsets look more vivid. In Holmes County, short errands and routine work in and around Millersburg, Berlin, Walnut Creek and Holmesville could turn rough fast when heat, humidity and smoke hit at the same time.

Air-quality advisories are issued when conditions are expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups, including children, the elderly and people with breathing difficulties. Hot days can worsen asthma and heart disease, and rural communities use heat-related health care services more often than urban areas. People who spend time outdoors on hot days are also at higher risk for heat-related illness.

Wildfire smoke can make outdoor air unhealthy to breathe and can also seep into homes, lowering indoor air quality. NOAA National Weather Service HeatRisk guidance identifies potential heat-related health impacts over a 24-hour period, and the combined heat and smoke raised that concern for Wednesday across Holmes County and the rest of the affected region.

Households across the county should stay hydrated, stay cool and check on neighbors, especially older adults and anyone with a breathing condition. Outdoor work was most dangerous during the hottest part of the day, and the forecast called for the heat to back off by the weekend as a weak front arrived Saturday and Sunday before a more unsettled pattern returned later.