BEMIDJI — It seems counterintuitive that this latest round of air quality alerts is coming from east to west, according to Matt Taraldsen, supervisory meteorologist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
“The smoke this time around is actually coming from Quebec and there is a very large upper-level low pressure system up by Hudson Bay,” he said Monday, July 17. “That’s actually taking the smoke from Quebec and then kind of dragging it over and around and then down in Minnesota that way.”
The affected area for the alert issued Monday through Tuesday includes Bemidji, East Grand Forks, Moorhead, Roseau, Thief River Falls, Crookston, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, and Ortonville as well as the tribal nations of Leech Lake and Red Lake.
Taraldsen said we are in a complex meteorological setup, with an area of high pressure that’s moving and pushing air down to the ground. This also creates nice, sunny skies as the high-pressure system slowly moves.
“The big concern is that we don’t really know how fast the atmosphere will scour out the smoke,” he said, and the alert may need to be extended beyond 10 p.m. Tuesday.
In MPCA news releases, fine particle levels are always highlighted.
"Every single one of the fire complexes in Canada in one day will put out more pollution than an electric power plant,” Taraldsen said.
The particulate matter gets moved by air masses, with the larger pieces falling out. Then, the little particles can be baked by the sun, which chemically alters them and creates a different odor than one would expect from a fire.
Taraldsen said the smell isn’t like sitting by a campfire, but more like burning plastic or rubber — something he calls electrical snow.
When asked about why we are seeing a particularly smoky summer with air quality alerts this year, Taraldsen said climate change is partly to blame.
“You can’t look at a single weather event and pin it on climate change, but I definitely think we are seeing some hallmarks of climate change here.”Matt Taraldsen, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
He explained conditions are more conducive to wildfires that are huge, burning very hot and continuously. There is a lot more smoke up in the atmosphere, and with El Nino weather patterns and fast-moving winds, the smoke gets pushed a long way away from the fire.
Taraldsen said the weather this summer has been favorable to cold fronts coming through with little to no rain, with sinking air that pushes the smoke to the ground.
“It’s kind of a combination of all these things,” he said. “You can’t look at a single weather event and pin it on climate change, but I definitely think we are seeing some hallmarks of climate change here.”
Air quality alerts are issued when the air quality index is forecast to reach an unhealthy level, which includes forecasts in the orange, red, purple and maroon categories. This alert predicts an air quality index at the orange alert level, meaning it could be unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Sensitive groups include:
- People who have asthma or other breathing conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD;
- People who have heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes;
- Pregnant people; and
- 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; and
- People in housing not tight enough to keep unhealthy air out, or who do not have permanent shelter.
In addition to staying inside when the air quality is comprised, the MPCA recommends closing windows and reducing or eliminating activities that could contribute to air pollution like outdoor burning or residential wood burning devices. Reducing vehicle trips and vehicle idling is also recommended.
Find more information at the MPCA’s air quality index page or download the EPA’s Air Now mobile app for more information.
