Canadian wildfire smoke descends in an unhealthy haze over Minnesota
As a gray cloud and a pungent odor swept through the Twin Cities on Wednesday, normally busy bike paths and running trails were largely deserted. Several commuters wore high-quality masks on their way home.
Air quality reached unhealthy levels in Minneapolis, St. Paul and much of Minnesota on Wednesday, as the Upper Midwest became the country’s last pocket where the air was polluted by smoke drifting south from wildfires that had raged across Canada for weeks. to burn.
Like last week in New York and much of the East Coast, Minnesotans looked to the sky and the Air Quality Index to understand what was happening around them. On Wednesday, Minneapolis and St. Paul recorded air quality index values above 250, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says is “very unhealthy” for most people.
The smoke also spread to other parts of the Upper Midwest. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, had an AQ1. of 190 on Wednesday night, and Fargo, ND, a reading of 180.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued an air quality alert through Friday warning that the air would be unhealthy for everyone in part of the state, roughly from the Twin Cities in the east to the state’s western border.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board canceled all outdoor programming because of air quality. But in St. Paul, a small group of young men forced their way through the unhealthy conditions to attend football practice on a college athletic field.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen it this bad,” said Nuh Suleiban, 21, short of breath. “It’s not good to play football in this weather.”
Nick Carletta, one of the lead meteorologists at the National Weather Service’s Twin Cities office, said conditions on Wednesday were reminiscent of a 2021 spell as smoke from wildfires engulfed the state.
“We had similar poor air quality in 2021, the numbers were more or less close,” said Mr. Carletta.
Now, he said, some of the largest fires are burning in British Columbia, and winds are blowing from Canada’s central western region toward Minnesota.
The state’s pollution control agency said Thursday air quality should improve in northern Minnesota, but smoke would linger in much of the southern part of the state.
And this may not be the last of the smoky skies this year. The possibility of poor air quality in Minnesota and other parts of the United States will remain, said Mr. Carletta, “as long as these fires in Canada last.”
Sarah Hick, 53, said she was shocked when she walked out of her office on Wednesday to ride her bike home. To get through the five-mile ride, she wore an orange KN95 mask.
“It was so smoky,” she said. “But with the mask I couldn’t smell the smoke.”
Ms. Hick said she saw the apparently apocalyptic footage from New York and hoped the Midwest would be spared.
“I thought we were over it,” she said as she walked her dog Tango, again wearing a mask.