Air quality alert impacting large part of Southeast Michigan due to melting snow

Sunday is expected to be beautiful across Southeast Michigan, but it comes with its own issues.

An air quality alert is in effect for several counties in the region until Monday at noon due to the warmth melting the snow. 

When rain falls in the warmer months, it washes out the air, and all the junk it carries goes down into the storm drains. With snow, it does the same process of washing the air, but it sits around on the ground for a long time.

On a day like Sunday, when there are sunny conditions and temperatures in the 40s, all the moisture evaporates and brings all the junk that it was holding back into the air. That includes natural contaminants, along with particulates like soot and exhaust. 

The air will mainly be unhealthy for sensitive groups, though the CBS News Detroit air sensor was bouncing around that level and the unhealthy range on Sunday morning.

If you're out and about in Southeast Michigan and see a kind of haze on the horizon, that's what you're seeing.