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Smoke from range fires in Kansas prompted Lincoln schools to cancel all outdoor athletic activities Wednesday.

The potential for reduced air quality could continue throughout the region in the days ahead, depending on weather, public health officials say.

Lincoln Public Schools made the decision, the first in memory, after the Lincoln-Lancaster County Public Health Department issued a health advisory, said district spokesman Zachary Baehr. About two dozen tennis, soccer, baseball and softball competitions were canceled. The district also canceled recess and held sports practices indoors.

Weather patterns, notably winds, caused the problem to occur in Lincoln while sparing Omaha, said Scott Holmes, environmental public health manager for the city-county health department.

Smoke is a seasonal issue because each spring ranchers in the Kansas Flint Hills, due south of Lincoln, burn off pastures to encourage more robust growth of new grass.

Holmes said this week’s poor air quality was unusual in that it occurred midweek. Usually, Kansas ranchers cluster their fires around the weekend. In 2014, Lincoln experienced four weekends with noticeably compromised air quality because of the range fires, he said.