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Minnesota skies are not as blue as they used to be.

in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics finds 9 to 12 days per month between June and September with smoke plumes overhead in the Upper Midwest.

The map above clearly shows Minnesota and the Dakotas are the epicenters of wildfire smoke plume frequency.

Climate change increasing western wildfires 

So where are our more frequent smoky skies coming from? 

It’s clear from satellite images and trajectory analysis that the bulk of these plumes originate from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada. And studies show climate change is increasing the number and size of 

The number of large fires over 1-thousand acres in the western U.S. has more than tripled since 1970.

The extra smoke from wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada often drifts aloft downwind toward Minnesota. That produces 

 that obscure Minnesota’s traditionally blue summer skies. 

 in recent years about how wildfire smoke aloft is obscuring Minnesota blue skies. Elevated smoke layers scatter sunlight and leave a milky white tone across the sky.

Smoke particles at ground level are detected by sensors that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) deploys. And the 

 issued by the MPCA for ground-level smoke has more than doubled in the past decade.

Thick smoke plumes from massive western wildfires in the U.S. and Canada shoot miles into the atmosphere. Once aloft, they quickly blow downstream on mid-level winds. It only takes a couple of days to reach Minnesota.

Wildfire smoke contains what air quality experts call fine particulates. These particles are so tiny we can easily breathe them into our lungs. When we do, we’re breathing in what used to be trees and other things like homes that were incinerated by the intense blazes.

So as fire season gets going in western North America this year, expect to see more smokey skies above Minnesota once again this summer. And you can connect our smokier skies to climate change. 

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Paul Huttner

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Climate change is increasing the number and size of wildfires in the western U.S. and Canada. The extra smoke is drifting downwind toward Minnesota and creating more smoke days that obscure Minnesota’s traditionally blue skies.

Evan Frost | MPR News

Number of days per month with smoke overhead

NOAA/NESDIS Hazard Mapping System

Climate Central

Huttner, Paul

Embers fly from a tree as the Kincade Fire burns near Geyserville.

Wildfire smoke causing 33-percent fewer blue sky days in Minnesota summers

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