When to expect the heaviest Canadian wildfire smoke in Minnesota this weekend

Yahoo

3 days ago

When to expect the heaviest Canadian wildfire smoke in Minnesota this weekend originally appeared on Bring Me The News.
All of Minnesota will experience poor air quality this weekend as smoke — both near the surface and at higher altitudes — invades from wildfires that are burning out of control in Canada.
Minnesotans will be able to see and smell the smoke when it nears the surface.
"Due to Canadian wildfires, air quality across all of central-southern MN into western WI will be degraded to the Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups (AQI Orange) level through Monday. Thus, Air Quality Alerts have been issued by both MPCA and WIDNR," says the National Weather Service.
"A cold front will drag smoke from large wildfires in Manitoba and Saskatchewan southward across the Upper Midwest. Multiple waves of smoke will then follow for Saturday through Monday, resulting in a prolonged period of degraded air quality.
"Sensitive groups, such as those with lung disease, heart disease, children and older adults may experience health effects and should limit prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors."
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According to the weather service, "some improvement is expected across eastern MN tonight before building back east Sunday with the warm front. Periods of smoke will then persist into Monday."
The near-surface smoke, which is unhealthy for everyone, will worsen throughout the day from north to south across Minnesota. The graphic below from the Grand Forks office the National Weather Service does a nice job of showing how smoke near the surface will evolve Saturday.
Sunday could be worse as near-surface smoke could expand throughout more of Minnesota. Take a look:
"The surface smoke is in sufficient concentrations for people to see and smell. There is high confidence that all Minnesotans will experience some level of air quality impact from smoke, and that some may experience significant air quality impacts," says the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
"Smoke concentrations may decrease at times in some parts of the state through the duration of the air quality alert, but afternoon heating and atmospheric mixing (which helps to bring smoke from aloft down to the surface) should result in additional rounds of poor air quality each day."
While air quality alerts are in effect through Monday, it doesn't mean the smoke will go away next week. In fact, the MPCA says "additional fresh rounds of heavy surface smoke are possible from Monday into Wednesday of next week."
A helpful tool to check the air quality in your location can be found here. Just enter your zip code for current air quality values.
This story was originally reported by Bring Me The News on May 31, 2025, where it first appeared.