Smoke from Canadian wildfires prompts a record 23rd air quality alert in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Wildfire smoke from Canada prompted officials on Tuesday to issue a record 23rd air quality alert for much of Minnesota through late Wednesday night as smoky skies obscure the Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines.

Smoke from wildfires in Ontario and Quebec moved into Minnesota late Monday, and ground-level smoke is expected to linger across southern, east-central and northeastern Minnesota. That includes the Twin Cities area, up to the northeast corner of the state and down to the southwest and southeast corners.

If it seems like there have been an unusually high number air quality alerts this summer, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says that’s correct. The MPCA tweeted that Tuesday marked the 23rd air quality alert in Minnesota this year, breaking the previous record of 21 in 2021. Minnesota usually averages two or three alerts in a season.

St. Paul recorded the worst air quality in the United States two weeks ago due to smoke from Canadian wildfires.

People in in sensitive groups are advised to limit time outside. As of midday Tuesday, the air quality was rated “unhealthy” across eastern Minnesota from the Canadian border to the Iowa border.

“It’s kind of miserable some days because you can’t spend a lot of time outside,” said Dan Daley, referring to frequent days this month in Minnesota with low air quality.

Daley said he smelled – and tasted – smoke in the air Tuesday morning when he left his house in St. Louis Park. He said the hazy sky made him wonder if this would be the summer norm going forward. Daley said poor air quality makes it difficult to do things he enjoys, such as hiking, camping and walking around town.

He also worries that people nationwide who haven’t experienced bad air quality days won’t take it seriously. “If they think the smoke’s not that bad, they should come up here and see it for themselves,” Daley said.

The MPCA said a cold front will move across Minnesota on Wednesday, bringing cleaner air from the west across the region by early Thursday.