The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued an air quality alert for the entire state of Minnesota. The alert runs until Friday, May 19, at 6:00 a.m.
There is a band of very heavy ground-level smoke from wildfires in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan and that smoke is currently moving into northwestern Minnesota. The smoke will continue to move south and east and eventually impact the entire state of Minnesota. They agency says smoke should clear rapidly overnight into Friday morning.
“The flow is primarily from Canada, and yes that’s yanking smoke south of the border. And that smoke will be with us off-and-on right through the weekend,” says WCCO Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas.
Fine particle levels are expected to reach the red air quality index (AQI) category, a level considered unhealthy for everyone, across all but far eastern Minnesota. This area includes The Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, St. Cloud, Mankato, Moorhead, East Grand Forks, Roseau, Bemidji, Alexandria, Marshall, Ortonville, Worthington and the tribal nations of Red Lake and Mille Lacs. In the red area, everyone should avoid prolonged time outdoors.
Douglas says despite the alert ending Friday morning, don’t be surprised to see it along with some hazy sunshine over the weekend. It may also be a summer-long issue with that part of Canada seeing incredibly dry and hot conditions which is very usual this early in the year. And that might make for a long few months.
“The outlook for fire conditions up there continue to be very poor throughout the summer, and so it’s possible we may see waves of smoke like this on-and-off throughout the summer,” says MPCA air quality meteorologist David Brown. “It all kind of depends on weather patterns.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, 91 wildfires are burning inside Alberta's forest protection areas, and 27 are classified as out of control, Alberta Wildfire information unit manager Christie Tucker said.
Firefighters are bracing for a long, gruelling season, and Tucker said Alberta has enlisted the help of nearly 1,000 out-of-province firefighters from across Canada and the U.S. so far.
"I can tell you in my experience, this is the most that I've seen coming in," she said.
Fine particle levels are expected to reach the orange AQI category, a level considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, across southeastern, northeastern, and far east central Minnesota. This area includes Rochester, Duluth, Ely, International Falls, Two Harbors, and the tribal nations of Fond du Lac and Grand Portage. In the orange area, sensitive groups should avoid prolonged time outdoors.
Who’s most at risk
Poor air quality impacts health. Fine particle pollution from wildfire smoke can irritate eyes, nose, and throat, and cause coughing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, dizziness, or fatigue. Smoke particles are small enough that they can be breathed deeply into lungs and enter the bloodstream. This can lead to illnesses such as bronchitis or aggravate existing chronic heart and lung diseases, triggering heart palpitations, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and strokes.
Certain groups experience health effects from unhealthy air quality sooner than others, either because they are more sensitive to fine particle pollution or because they are exposed to larger amounts of it.
Sensitive groups include:
People who have asthma or other breathing conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
People who have heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes
Pregnant people
Children and older adults
People with increased exposure include:
People of all ages who do longer or more vigorous physical activity outdoors
People who work outdoors, especially workers who do heavy manual labor
People who exercise or play sports outdoors, including children
People who don’t have air conditioning and need to keep windows open to stay cool
People in housing not tight enough to keep unhealthy air out, or who do not have permanent shelter
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