Here we are again.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has extended today’s air quality alert through Tuesday at 6 p.m. as fires continue to rage north of the border.
Meteorologist Matt Taraldsen says the air is unhealthy for everyone in the southeastern part of the state, where they should avoid being outside for prolonged periods of time.
He says the air in east central Minnesota, Duluth, and along the North Shore is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
“Basically what happens is that, because of the pollutants in the air, your body has to work harder to get oxygen to itself, and that stress on the body can aggravate things like asthma or high blood pressure or heart disease,” Taraldsen said.
Taraldsen says the timing of these smokey days has been a bummer.
“These air quality days tend to occur on days when the weather would otherwise be nice, and that’s unfortunate,” Taraldsen said.
Taraldsen says this particular band of smoke is coming from wildfires in Quebec, where typically, the smokey air originates in Manitoba or Alberta.
He says Canada has a different wildfire policy than the U.S. does, allowing for wildfires to burn if they’re not threatening populated areas.
As a result, the meteorologist says we are seeing air quality alerts like never before.
“It’s unprecedented,” Taraldsen said. “We’ve been forecasting since 2011 at MPCA, and this is the worst we’ve seen this early in the season.”
