Air quality alert continues into Monday morning; Chance of showers & thunderstorms

An air quality alert continues Sunday evening and until 9 a.m. Monday for the Twin Cities metro area and several additional Minnesota counties. There is also an air quality alert until 8 a.m. Monday for portions of western Wisconsin.

Here are details of the air quality alert in portions of Minnesota, from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency:

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for east central and southeastern Minnesota. The alert takes effect Sunday, June 4, beginning at 12 p.m. and runs until Monday, June 5, at 9 a.m. The affected area includes east central and southeastern Minnesota, and the tribal nations of Prairie Island and Mille Lacs. Air quality is expected to reach the orange AQI category, which is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

A band of smoke from wildfires in Quebec is currently moving west across the Great Lakes and Wisconsin. Smoke will cross into eastern Minnesota late Sunday morning. The smoke may make it as far west as Rochester and St Cloud. Air quality should improve across east central and southeastern Minnesota tomorrow morning. Some smoke may linger across southeast Minnesota through Monday. In addition, sunny skies, light winds, and warm temperatures will allow pollutants (Volatile Organic Compounds and Oxides of Nitrogen) to react in the air and form high levels of ozone from the Twin Cities to St Cloud.

Fine particle levels are expected to reach the orange air quality index (AQI) category, a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, across east central and southeast Minnesota. Ozone may also reach the orange air quality index in the Twin Cities Metro to St Cloud Sunday afternoon. The alert area includes Winona, Rochester, the Twin Cities, Hinckley, St Cloud, and the tribal nations of Prairie Island and Mille Lacs. In the orange area, sensitive groups should avoid prolonged time outdoors.

What this alert means

Air moves long distances and carries pollutants. During air quality alerts due to wildfires, the air is mixed with harmful smoke. Wildfire smoke spreads or lingers depending on the size of the fires, the wind, and the weather.

The air quality index (AQI) is color-coded. Air quality alerts are issued when the AQI is forecast to reach an unhealthy level, which includes forecasts in the orange, red, purple, and maroon categories. For a full description of each air quality category, visit airnow.gov.

Orange air quality: Unhealthy for sensitive groups

Sights and smells: In areas where air quality is in the orange AQI category due to wildfires, the sky may look hazy and residents may smell smoke even when wildfires are far away.

Health effects: This air is unhealthy for sensitive groups and pollution may aggravate heart and lung disease as well as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. Symptoms may include chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and fatigue.

What to do: People in sensitive groups are encouraged to reduce outdoor physical activities, take more breaks, or do less intense activities to reduce their exposure. People with asthma should follow their asthma action plan and keep their rescue inhaler nearby.

Who’s most at risk

Poor air quality impacts health. Fine particle pollution from wildfire smoke can irritate eyes, nose, and throat, and cause coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, or fatigue. Smoke particles are small enough that they can be breathed deeply into lungs and enter the bloodstream. This can lead to illnesses such as bronchitis or aggravate existing chronic heart and lung diseases, triggering heart palpitations, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and strokes.

Certain groups experience health effects from unhealthy air quality sooner than others, either because they are more sensitive to fine particle pollution or because they are exposed to larger amounts of it.

Sensitive groups include:

• People who have asthma or other breathing conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

• People who have heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes.

• Pregnant people.

• Children and older adults.

People with increased exposure include:

• People of all ages who do longer or more vigorous physical activity outdoors.

  • People who work outdoors, especially workers who do heavy manual labor.

  • People who exercise or play sports outdoors, including children.

• People who don’t have air conditioning and need to keep windows open to stay cool.

• People in housing not tight enough to keep unhealthy air out, or who do not have permanent shelter.

Anyone experiencing health effects related to poor air quality should contact their health care provider. Those with severe symptoms, chest pain, trouble breathing, or who fear they may be experiencing a heart attack or stroke should call 911 immediately.

Here are details of the air quality alert in western Wisconsin:

WIZ014>016-023>028-051300- Polk-Barron-Rusk-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Chippewa-Eau Claire- Including the cities of Osceola, Rice Lake, Ladysmith, Hudson, River Falls, Menomonie, Durand, Chippewa Falls, and Eau Claire 824 AM CDT Sun Jun 4 2023 ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL 8AM CDT MONDAY MORNING... The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued an Air Quality Advisory for PM2.5 which will remain in effect until 08:00 AM CDT tomorrow morning. This advisory affects people living in the following counties: Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Rusk, and Saint Croix. Smoke originating from wildfires in Quebec, Canada is currently impacting PM2.5 concentrations at the surface across much of the state. The air quality index is expected to range from the UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS level to the UNHEALTHY level across the advisory area. In general, the lowest PM2.5 concentrations are expected to the northwest, while highest concentrations are expected near north central and northeast Wisconsin, within and around the Fox River Valley. It is recommended that people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion, while everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion. For more information on current air quality, please see: https://airquality.wi.gov

Rain and thunderstorm chances

Far northern Minnesota is expected to see the highest number of showers and thunderstorms Sunday evening and overnight. There will be a chance of a few scattered showers and thunderstorms elsewhere in Minnesota and in far northwestern Wisconsin.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely in Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Monday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model shows the potential rain pattern from 9 a.m. Monday to 11 p.m. Monday:

Pay more attention to the scattered nature of the rain than the exact location of the rain at any point in time.

You can find updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News network. You’ll find the latest radar here.

You can check these National Weather Service sites for updated weather info: Twin Cities, Duluth, La Crosse, Wis., Sioux Falls, S.D., Grand Forks, N.D.

A few very scattered showers and a thunderstorm will also be possible on Tuesday.

Temperature trends

Sunday was very summery.

The Sunday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 92 degrees. The average Twin Cities high temp is just 76 degrees this time of year. The official Twin Cities high temperature has been 90 degrees or warmer on 5 of the past 6 days.

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin had Sunday highs in the upper 80s to around 90. Several spots in far western Minnesota reached the lower 90s. Much cooler temps were seen near Lake Superior.

Monday highs retreat into the 70s and 60s in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin, with mainly 80s elsewhere:

Metro area highs are expected to be in the upper 80s.

Tuesday high temps will be in the low-to-mid 80s in many locations, with cooler 70s and 60s in northeastern Minnesota:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 80s Wednesday and Thursday, followed by mid 80s on Friday.

No really chilly temps are in sight. The NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for near-normal temps in southeastern Minnesota next weekend and into the start of the following week, with a slight tendency for above-normal temps elsewhere in Minnesota:

Weather nugget:

Sunday’s Twin Cities high temp of 92 was 5 degrees shy of the June 4 record high, which was set in 2021.

The June 2021 heat wave featured 9 consecutive days with Twin Cities highs in the 90s:

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.