Air quality alert due to Canadian wildfire smoke expanded to cover all of Minnesota

An air quality alert is now in effect for all of Minnesota through Monday evening, as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to stream across the state.

That’s an expansion of earlier alerts, as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said a cold front “will continue to drag smoke from large wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan southward into Minnesota. This will be a long-duration event with multiple rounds of smoke expected.”

“The highest concentration of smoke is expected Saturday morning and afternoon,” the MPCA said. “The air quality will improve slightly overnight Saturday before a second wave of smoke arrives Sunday morning. Air quality may improve Sunday evening before a third round of smoke arrives Monday. This air quality alert may need to be extended as additional waves of smoke will be possible.”

Forecasters say levels of fine particles in the air may reach the red category — that means unhealthy for everyone — in northern Minnesota, including Moorhead, Bemidji, the Iron Range, Duluth and the North Shore.

For the rest of the state, including St. Cloud, the Twin Cities, Rochester and Mankato, air quality is expected to reach the orange category — meaning unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Sensitive groups include children and older adults, as well as people with lung or heart conditions, or who are pregnant. And it also includes people who spend long periods of time outdoors.

“We really want to reiterate the fact that this is going to be a multi-wave and a long-duration event,” MPCA meteorologist Matt Taraldsen said. “The air quality will likely be the worst in the afternoons. As the atmosphere heats up, it will mix and it will pull that smoke from up above down to the ground. And at night and in the morning, it will somewhat rebound.”

The MPCA said people should limit heavy exertion or time spent outside when air quality worsens. And Taraldsen said pet owners should remember to limit their animals’ exposure to the smoky air, too.

Current air quality conditions can be found on the MPCA’s website.