For a time this Tuesday morning, the Twin Cities had the second worst air of any major urban area in the world, once again due to smoke pouring in from Canada and those wildfires that continue to burn.
It's caused another Air Quality Alert for much of the state through Thursday at midnight, especially for those with heart and lung issues.
WCCO Radio chief meteorologist Paul Douglas says it's a cycle we should get used to.
"This is going to be a fixture, I think, much of the summer. Couple of days of blue sky, then a couple of days of smoke," says Douglas.
Douglas adds that forecasting the smoke is also challenging. He says they can only know about 24 hours ahead of time when the smoke will arrive and depart.
"Unlike the weather models, these smoke plume models only go out about 24 hours," Douglas explained. "So if somebody asks, 'hey is it going to be smoky on Saturday?' I have no idea. Nobody does. It's pure chaos theory, depends on a lot of factors in addition to the winds."
For the record, Chicago had the worst air on the planet this morning as they struggle with the same issues.