It was like that all the time?
70 years ago, yes. The older buildings here still have coal dust on them. In 1939, one week, it was so dark, the street lamps never went off. There were places out in the county where kids were sent to get sunlight because they were so vitamin D deficient, their bones were weak. So, in 1940, StL instituted a ban on Illinois soft coal and the majority of the smoke disappeared. It was expensive, but one of the few cases where an environmental law was actually necessary.
FINALLY
DRUDGE has it in red!