Air quality alert extends into Sunday AM for Twin Cities metro and southern Minnesota

Air quality conditions are improving in much of northern Minnesota as of late Saturday morning.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to blanket most of central and southern Minnesota, with air quality conditions in either the orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) or red (unhealthy for all groups) categories as of 10 a.m. Saturday.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has extended the air quality alert until noon on Sunday for the entire Twin Cities metro area. Nicollett County, southeastern Minnesota and the Minnesota counties south of the Minnesota River are also in the air quality alert until noon on Sunday:

The air quality alert expires at 3 p.m. this Saturday elsewhere in Minnesota.

Here’s the MPCA discussion of the portion of the air quality alert that includes the metro area and south-central Minnesota:

MNZ054-060>064-068>070-073>074>076>078-082>085-091>093-161700- Anoka-Blue Earth-Brown-Carver-Dakota-Faribault-Freeborn-Goodhue- Hennepin-Lac Qui Parle-Le Sueur-Martin-Nicollet-Ramsey-Redwood- Rice-Scott-Steele-Waseca-Washington-Watonwan-Yellow Medicine- Including the tribal nations of Prairie Island and Upper Sioux Including the cities of Albert Lea, Blaine, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Burnsville, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Farmington, Hastings, Mankato, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Northfield, Plymouth, Prior Lake, Ramsey, Rogers, Rosemount, Roseville, Shakopee, St. Louis Park, St. Paul, Stillwater, Waconia, White Bear Lake, and Woodbury 912 AM CDT Sat Jul 15 2023 ...AIR QUALITY ALERT NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CDT SUNDAY... * WHAT...The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has extended an Air Quality Alert for fine particles pollution. The 24 hour Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to reach the Orange or Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups category - but several hours in the Red or Unhealthy for All category are expected Saturday. * WHERE...South central Minnesota. * WHEN...Until noon CDT Sunday. * IMPACTS...Sensitive groups, such as people with lung disease (including asthma), heart disease, and children and older adults, may experience health effects. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Smoke from wildfires in Alberta and British Columbia continues to move across Minnesota. Smoke will gradually move south Saturday before stalling along the Minnesota River valley. The smoke will linger until Sunday morning before gradual clearing occurs. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... The general public should limit prolong outdoor exertion Saturday morning and afternoon. Sensitive groups, such as people with lung disease (including asthma), heart disease, and children and older adults, should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Reduce or eliminate activities that contribute to air pollution, such as outdoor burning, and use of residential wood burning devices. Reduce vehicle trips and vehicle idling as much as possible. Keep windows closed overnight to prevent smoke from getting indoors. && For information on current air quality conditions in your area and to sign up for daily air quality forecasts and alert notifications by email, text message, phone, or the EPA AirNow mobile app, visit https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land- climate/current-air-quality-conditions. You can find additional information about health and air quality at https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/air-quality- and-health.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency updates Minnesota air quality measurements hourly.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued an air quality advisory for all of Wisconsin that continues until noon on Sunday. Here are the details:

859 AM CDT Fri Jul 14 2023 ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CDT SUNDAY... The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued an Air Quality Advisory for PM2.5 which will be in effect until noon Sunday, July 16. This advisory affects all of Wisconsin. Smoke originating from wildfires in western Canada will move into the state today, generally from northwest-to-southeast, causing the air quality index (AQI) for PM2.5 to reach the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) level. It is possible that isolated to scattered areas of Unhealthy AQI PM2.5 could develop, with the best chance for this to occur across southern Wisconsin. People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should consider avoiding prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion. The northern half of the state will see the heaviest smoke impacts from noon Friday until midnight Sunday (Saturday night). The southern half of the state will see the heaviest smoke impacts from 6AM Saturday until noon Sunday. While it is likely that this advisory will be allowed to expire as planned for northern Wisconsin, we may need to extend the end-time of the advisory for southern Wisconsin. For more information on current air quality, please see: https://airquality.wi.gov

Saturday weather

A few very scattered showers and an isolated t-storm could develop later Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening in the northern third of Minnesota and in western Wisconsin. There appears to be just an isolated shower/thunderstorm chance elsewhere in Minnesota later this afternoon and this evening.

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

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

Highs will be in the 70s today across roughly the northern third of Minnesota and in northwestern Wisconsin, with mainly 80s elsewhere. Much of the Twin Cities metro area will reach the lower 80s.

Sunday and the week ahead

The northern half of Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin could see a few scattered showers and thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and evening. An isolated shower or thunderstorm is possible elsewhere in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin late Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening.

Sunday highs will range from 60s in the northern third of Minnesota to around 80 degrees in the Twin Cities and southeastern Minnesota:

Monday highs will be mainly in the 70s, with 60s in parts of northeastern Minnesota:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the upper 70s on Monday, followed by lower 80s Tuesday then mid 80s Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The best chance of rain in the metro area appears to be Tuesday night and Wednesday.

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.