Northwestern Minnesota has a severe thunderstorm watch until 9 p.m.

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Our air quality improved quite a bit in central Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area Saturday evening.

As of 8 a.m. Sunday, air quality was good or moderate in northern Minnesota and most of central and southeastern Minnesota  plus the Twin Cities metro area. 

Due to smoke from Canadian wildfires, air quality was unhealthy (red category) in southwestern Minnesota and unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange category) in portions of west-central Minnesota. 

Some additional smoky air will spread eastward from South Dakota today, so air quality is expected to deteriorate in the portions of southern Minnesota that currently have good to moderate air quality. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High Resolution Rapid-Refresh smoke model forecast shows the potential location of the highest smoke concentrations (orange shades) at 1 p.m. Sunday:

 continues air quality alerts until 6 p.m. Sunday in the orange and red-shaded counties of Minnesota, including the south metro:

The southern portions of Scott County and Dakota County are expected to see air quality in the unhealthy (red) category while northern portions of those counties plus Carver County see air quality mainly in the unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange) category. 

Unhealthy air quality is expected across much of southern Minnesota. 

Here’s the MPCA discussion of the air quality alert that includes the southern part of the Twin Cities metro area plus southern Minnesota:

 is typically updated about once per hour. 

Wisconsin remains in an air quality advisory until noon on Sunday:

A passing shower is possible Sunday morning from central Minnesota through the Twin Cities metro area and into west-central Wisconsin. Sunday morning shower chances are higher in north-central and northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

The best chance of scattered showers and an isolated thunderstorm Sunday afternoon and evening is expected to be in northern Minnesota and in Wisconsin. An isolated shower or thunderstorm is possible elsewhere in Minnesota.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential rain pattern from noon Sunday to 10 p.m. Sunday:

You can hear updated weather information for Minnesota and western Wisconsin on the MPR News 

You can also check these National Weather Service sites for updated weather info: 

The average Twin Cities high temp is 84 degrees this time of year. Most of the metro area will top out in the upper 70s this afternoon. Sunday highs will be in the 60s across most of the northern third of Minnesota and parts of northwestern Wisconsin, with 70s elsewhere:

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.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Ron Trenda

Author

An air quality alert continues through Sunday afternoon in roughly the southern third of Minnesota, but alerts end at noon in Wisconsin. We have your Sunday weather details, including who could see some rain.

Air quality alert for southern MN and south metro until 6 p.m. Sunday; cool temps

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