UPDATE: This story was updated at 3:45 p.m. Wednesday with information on the expansion of the air quality alert.
An air quality alert is in effect through 11 p.m. Friday, July 25, as a band of heavy smoke from Canadian wildfires moves into Minnesota.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency originally issued the red Air Quality Index alert for far northwestern Minnesota on Tuesday, and then expanded it across northeastern and central Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon. The orange AQI alert covers nearly the rest of the state, with the exception of the extreme southeast corner.
"A band of heavy smoke from wildfires in Saskatchewan and Manitoba is moving south across southern Manitoba and will reach northwest Minnesota by early Wednesday morning," the agency stated in its alert.
The smoke is expected to remain over the northwest part of the state through the end of Wednesday, but by Thursday morning, the smoke will reach southwest Minnesota. Smoke will also move into the northeast and central portions of the state Thursday morning, and by Thursday afternoon, smoke will reach east-central and south-central Minnesota.
Some uncertainty remains regarding how far south the ground-level smoke will reach by Friday morning, when winds are expected to become southerly and push the smoke back to the north. Air quality should improve gradually from south to north beginning Friday afternoon, with improvement in fine particle levels below the alert threshold expected by the end of Friday.
The red level means the air is unhealthy for everyone. Anyone may begin to experience symptoms such as irritated eyes, nose, and throat, coughing, chest tightness or shortness of breath. Sensitive or more exposed individuals may experience more serious health effects, including worsening of existing heart or lung disease and respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, possibly leading to an asthma attack, heart attack or stroke.
At the orange level, it's considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Pollution may aggravate heart and lung disease as well as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. Symptoms may include chest pain, shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and fatigue.
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.
- Children and older adults.
People should reduce outdoor physical activities, take more breaks, and avoid intense activities to reduce exposure. Sensitive and more exposed individuals should avoid prolonged or vigorous activities and consider shortening, rescheduling or moving outdoor events inside.
