Chicago was hammered by a pair of storms on Monday that dumped nearly three inches of rain at Midway Airport, where wind gusts topped 70 miles per hour.

Between temperatures that feel like 100 degrees and hazardous wildfire smoke that shut down beaches and pools, spending time outside this summer hasn’t always been the most enticing (or safe) plan.

Smoke causes inflammation by triggering the body’s immune system to go into overtime to fight the irritant. Scientists have found it can harm the brain, the skin and men’s sperm, with almost no system of the body spared.

Chicago’s air quality has fallen out of the “hazardous” range but remains at unhealthy levels as winds began pushing wildfire smoke from Canada and Minnesota northeast.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has issued an air pollution action day for the northeastern part of the state.

Since taking office last year, President Donald Trump has approved about 65 requests for major disaster declarations and denied more than two dozen others from states, tribes or territories seeking federal financial assistance following hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods and fires.

About 13 billion gallons of combined storm and waste water flowed into two Cook County reservoirs this past weekend, part of the region’s network of stormwater management infrastructure.

Last fall, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the University of Illinois Chicago joined forces to install 277 air quality monitors around the city, the largest system of its kind in the United States.

Some areas reported 8 to 10 inches of rain in a 48-hour period.

It felt like 106 degrees in Chicago Tuesday, and more of the same is expected for Wednesday and Thursday as the combination of heat and humidity continue to create dangerous conditions.

Dangerous heat and humidity are expected this week, particularly Monday through Wednesday with high temperatures in the mid-90s and heat index values – what temperatures will feel like when also factoring in humidity — reaching above 105 degrees.

It’s part of a four-year upwards trend that experts say is mostly normal weather variation but could be part of long-term severe weather increases related to climate change.

As cleanup continues from last week's storms, more severe weather is in the forecast for this week, with the greatest threat on Wednesday.

The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386 million. Over the last decade it has tracked ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change and extreme weather.

The National Weather Service will be surveying damage from multiple reported tornadoes that touched down Thursday, while recovery efforts continue from the derecho that walloped Chicago on Wednesday.

The National Weather Service is tracking two rounds of severe weather Thursday.