Canadian wildfire smoke covers Minnesota, alert issued until noon Wednesday

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The weather maps would normally indicate a bright blue sky over Minnesota Tuesday. But Canadian wildfires have dimmed the sun so much that it looks like a cloudy day overhead. 

I took this photo of the obscured sun outside the Weather Lab Tuesday afternoon.

The thickest part of the smoke plume from numerous Canadian wildfires is passing over Minnesota and the Twin Cities Tuesday afternoon. You can see the unsightly smudge from space on from NASA’s MODIS Terra image at the top of this post.

Check out the plume from arcing Manitoba through the western Great Lakes Tuesday afternoon from the Twin Cities National Weather Service office.

The smoke plume runs more than 2,000 miles. Here’s the map from federal 

 website showing the plume running from western Canada all the way to the eastern United States and over the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday.

The smoke is mostly aloft over southern Minnesota. Air quality has been in the good range across southern Minnesota, but fine particulates that we can breathe into our lungs have reached moderate levels in the north. 

 remains up until 4 p.m. Tuesday for the northern half of Minnesota. Here’s the forecast discussion for the next few days from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. 

Air quality is forecast to be moderate statewide Wednesday. By Thursday another cold front will drop south, and that may mix down more smoke to ground level, especially in northwestern Minnesota. 

Paul Huttner

Author

Air quality alert is in effect for the northern half of Minnesota. 

Heaviest Canadian wildfire smoke plume drifting over the Twin Cities

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