Extensive wildfire smoke plumes building west of Minnesota
Good to moderate air quality for now in Minnesota
![Smoky sky at the Weather Lab](https://img.apmcdn.org/9c81565a1ca08b74f69952af75baacb2a07fe545/uncropped/fb1955-20240723-smoky-sky-at-the-weather-lab-600.jpg)
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If you look up you can see a whitish tint to the sky above Minnesota these days. (See the image above.) That’s caused by an elevated smoke layer drifting above Minnesota.
There’s a growing smoke shield from fires in Canada and the western United States this week.
![NOAA fire and smoke map](https://img.apmcdn.org/c14cf13cf8a5a5f8065b93915f57ad32d72503b3/uncropped/a5f882-20240723-noaa-fire-and-smoke-map-1415.png)
Most of the smoke over Minnesota remains aloft. Air quality readings at ground level are good to moderate across Minnesota. However, unhealthy air quality readings due to ground-level smoke cover the western Dakotas.
![Air Quality Index](https://img.apmcdn.org/fbfe706bd5caa8433a30a937ce9f2306fc2af031/uncropped/4ce84b-20240723-air-quality-index-864.png)
A northeast wind from Lake Superior will keep air quality across Minnesota comparatively good Wednesday and keep the western smoke at bay.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model near-surface smoke output shows the easterly wind flow pushing smoke westward into Wednesday morning:
![NOAA HRRR smoke](https://img.apmcdn.org/9812190df5af57b89206d5451de700ad746dccf4/uncropped/b2f074-20240723-noaa-hrrr-smoke-660.gif)
So air quality readings across Minnesota will remain good to moderate on Wednesday.
![Air quality forecast for Minnesota](https://img.apmcdn.org/36084e5d1f766b07c8bad24a5e9ac59ad7cc9183/uncropped/e18f26-20240723-air-quality-forecast-for-minnesota-904.png)
We’ll have to keep an eye out for possible thicker smoke invasions if the winds shift. There’s a lot of smoke out west.
Stay tuned.