It's that time of year again when prairie grass burning in Kansas and Oklahoma may cause bad air quality in Lincoln.
The state and Lancaster County health departments warned residents Tuesday to monitor air quality since those fires can impact downwind areas, including Nebraska.
Favorable burn conditions Tuesday across the Flint Hills region of Kansas and Oklahoma, combined with south winds, may carry smoke into Lincoln and Lancaster County on Tuesday night into Wednesday, the departments said.
Large areas of Flint Hills rangeland in Kansas and Oklahoma are burned during the spring to provide better forage for cattle, to help preserve the tallgrass prairie and to manage rangeland resources.
As complaints have grown louder in recent years regarding air-quality issues in Lincoln, Mayor Chris Beutler and others have called on Kansas ranchers to spread their burns throughout the year rather than concentrating them in the spring.Â
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Last year, the state developed a public smoke advisory system for the Flint Hills burns and it will issue smoke advisories when conditions make it likely that smoke from the burns could affect air quality in parts of Nebraska.
Weather conditions can affect the timing of the burns. During a typical year, about 2.4 million acres are burned in the Flint Hills region. In 2018, because of drought conditions, only 1.5 million acres were burned.
It could mean there will be more burning and higher concentrations of burning in the upcoming four to six weeks, depending on weather conditions, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Smoke can cause asthma attacks, aggravate chronic bronchitis and emphysema, cause complications for people with heart disease and increase the risk of lung cancer.
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department monitors air quality 24 hours a day and those at risk are encouraged to check the Air Quality Index, which is updated hourly at (keyword: air).
The Environmental Protection Agency also provides an AirNow smartphone application.