Air quality alert for the northern half of Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday

Another wave of Canadian wildfire smoke is heading for Minnesota.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued another air quality alert for Tuesday and Wednesday. The alert zone (map above) includes the northern half of Minnesota basically along and north of an Ortonville to Hinckley line.

Here’s the detailed alert language from MPCA.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for northern and central Minn. The alert takes effect at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, and runs until noon on Wednesday, Aug. 9. The affected area includes Brainerd, Alexandria, Hinckley, Ortonville, Bemidji, East Grand Forks, Moorhead, International Falls, Two Harbors, Hibbing, Ely, Duluth, Roseau, and the tribal nations of Mille Lacs, Leech Lake, Red Lake, Grand Portage, and Fond du Lac.

Heavy ground-level smoke from wildfires in northern Canada is currently impacting central North Dakota. Light westerly winds over the region will cause the smoke to drift towards the Minn. border. Smoke is expected to reach northwest Minn. by 6 a.m. Tuesday and northeast Minn. by 3 p.m. Tuesday. Northerly winds will push this smoke south early Wednesday. The smoke will impact north central Minn. on Wednesday, but air quality will begin to improve from north to south Wednesday afternoon.

Fine particle levels are expected to reach the orange air quality index (AQI) category, a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, across northern and central Minn. In the orange area, sensitive groups should limit prolonged or heavy exertion and time spent outdoors.

Air quality as of Monday afternoon is good to moderate across Minnesota.

Particulate matter (smoke particles) is forecast to reach the orange unhealthy for sensitive groups range Tuesday across northern Minnesota.

Canadian wildfires continue

The inbound smoke wave is part of multiple smoke plumes that reach from wildfires in Canada’s Northwest Territories and northern Saskatchewan. NOAA’s smoke map shows the massive smoke zone across western Canada as of Monday.

Smoke is thick across southern Canada and North Dakota Monday afternoon. NOAA’s RAP smoke model shows the next smoke wave will impact mainly northern Minnesota Tuesday and Wednesday.

Record year for air quality alerts in Minnesota

There are several ways to count air quality alerts by the season in Minnesota. You can track the number of alerts, but some are in effect for days. If you count alert days, Minnesota is quickly approaching the record number of 42 air quality alert days set in 2021. Of that record number, 27 days were from the Greenwood Fire.

Through late last week, Minnesota had logged 39 air quality alert days according to the MPCA via MPR News’ Elizabeth Shockman. So adding 2 more days due to this week’s alert will push that number to 41 days.

With record acreage burned in Canada this year and blazes still burning, it’s likely we’ll reach new record levels for air quality alerts this year in Minnesota on multiple metrics.

Stay tuned.