Season's first wildfire smoke drifting over Minnesota Wednesday

Wildfire smoke season is back in Minnesota.

Wildfires in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan are pumping smoke toward Minnesota Wednesday. The smoke plumes are riding in on the gusty northwest wind flow behind a cool front that blew into Minnesota Tuesday night.

You can see dozens of large fires across northwestern Canada on the map from Natural Resources Canada.

Northwest flow is pumping the smoke plume across Minnesota Wednesday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-16 visible satellite loop shows clouds over Wisconsin, and a smudge of smoke drifting across central Minnesota early Wednesday afternoon.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency air quality monitors show readings in the yellow moderate range across parts of Minnesota. The Twin Cities AQI hit 72 as of this post.

Much of the smoke is aloft, but some particles are reaching ground level. Expect to see potentially vivid reddish tones at sunset tonight around parts of Minnesota. Smoke particles scatter many parts of visible light, but reddish wavelengths tend to get through to our eyes.