We've set a record, and it's one that we are not very proud of.
The Twin Cities have now had 24 days with Air Quality Alerts issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which is the most ever. And yes, it's still only June.
"The old record was 21 days and that was set back in 2021," says WCCO Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas. "We're already up to 24 and what, we're maybe a third of the way through summer? By the way, an entire summer, we get about on average two or three of these air quality alert days. So this is unusual and when people ask me, 'Paul, is it gonna be like this all summer?' The honest answer is we don't know."
Douglas does say he expects more air quality alerts, but it will not be an every day occurence.
"We'll have a couple of blue sky days and then a couple of hazy smoky days and then back to blue sky," Douglas says. "It's gonna be like this off and on, I think, I fear, into autumn. Because these fires are not going out, upwind, over Canada. And sadly, what happens in Canada does not stay in Canada."
The problem stems from what was a record heatwave across Canada in May. Then swarms of thunderstorms, cloud to ground lightning, ignited hundreds of simultaneous fires all across Canada, Douglas says.
"That's unusual that from coast to coast. Canada is pretty much on fire," Douglas explained to Tom Hauser on the WCCO Morning News. "Of course, much of the time we are downwind. Usually that pays benefits with clean Canadian air, cooler fronts, more comfortable. But in this case, this summer, it proves to be a negative.
On Tuesday, the Twin Cities had the second worst air quality of any major city on Earth. Number one was Chicago. No, not Delhi or Beijing, places that typically have terrible air pollution. Two cities in the normally "clean" Midwest were the worst on the planet.
"It was wildfire smoke and all you can do when it's up in the orange, or certainly the red or the purple, all you can do is stay indoors," Douglas says.
Certainly, this poor air quality is having an effect on people who have lung and heart problems. But a Twin Cities doctor says the rest of us are feeling it too.
Allina Health Care System Doctor Andrew Steam says it can have damaging effects.
"The typical reaction that sensitive people are going to have, is more cough, more chest tightness, and more shortness of breath," Steam told WCCO's Susie Jones.
Steam says there is a big difference between typical ozone pollution, from cars and other manufacturing, and smoke particle pollution.
"The ozone tends to have a lot more local irrititation. So it could cause eye irritation and throat irritiation," says Steam. "The particulate matter is a little bit more of the cough and the shortness of breath. Although it's a spectrum. We can see both along the way."
The current alert runs until Thursday, June 29, at midnight. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has updated the air quality alert to include southern and central Minn., effective until Wednesday, June 28, at 11:59 p.m. The affected area includes the Twin Cities metro, Albert Lea, Marshall, Worthington, Rochester, Hinckley, Winona, Mankato, and the tribal nations of Upper Sioux, Prairie Island, and Mille Lacs. The alert area no longer includes northeast Minn.