Better air quality south; another alert for northern Minnesota through Wednesday

We’re breathing easier across most of Minnesota on this summery Tuesday.

Most of our latest smoke smudge has exited Minnesota with some lingering orange air in southeastern Minnesota. Air quality is in the good range across most of Minnesota Tuesday afternoon.

But another smoky swipe will clip northern Minnesota overnight into Wednesday. And a ribbon of near-surface smoke could make it as far south as the Twin Cities Wednesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh smoke output shows the trend through 1 a.m. Wednesday:

The latest air quality alert for northern Minnesota runs through 11 p.m. Wednesday. Here’s the latest forecast discussion from Minnesota Pollution Control Agency:

Updated Tue, Aug 12, 2025

KEY MESSAGES:

1) Smoke will move east and exit the state Tuesday morning, but a new band of smoke will move into northern MN.

2) AQA will be extended for northern MN through Wednesday.

DETAILED DISCUSSION: Lingering smoke over eastern MN should continue to move east Tuesday morning. However, additional surface smoke will move into northern Minnesota on Tuesday due to northwest transport winds from Canada into Minnesota. This smoke won't be as heavy, but will likely still create air quality conditions in the Orange (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) category across northern Minnesota on Tuesday and Wednesday. The AQA will likely be extended for northern MN through Wednesday. This band of smoke will be narrow and remain confined to the northern one-third of the state. Air quality across central and southern MN will gradually improve Tuesday through Thursday.

The rest of this week look summery with increasing humidity by Friday as dew points rise into the 70s once again.

Highs will be in the lower 80s south through Thursday, but reach the upper 80s by Friday with pleasant 70s north.