If you’re in the northern part of the Central United States and the skies look smoky, here’s why: Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin were under an air quality alert on Monday morning because of wildfire smoke from Canada.
On Sunday, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued the alert for the entire state, which was set to expire at noon Eastern on Monday. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued an air quality alert for northwestern Wisconsin that was set to last through 10 a.m. on Monday.
Fine particle levels were expected to reach the red air quality index category, the agency said, which also warned that was “a level considered unhealthy for everyone, across all of Minnesota.” In those areas, officials said, everybody, and particularly sensitive people, should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion and should limit their time outdoors.
By the numbers: Most of the 146 blazes burning in the first major wildfires since Canada’s record season that finally abated in October were in British Columbia (50) and Alberta (45) as of early Monday, per the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
- The CIFFC listed 40 of the fires burning as “out of control.”
- The fires were impacting four U.S. states’ air quality: Montana, the Dakotas and Minnesota, with much of the latter state’s air quality listed as “unhealthy” early Monday.
State of play: Authorities issued evacuation orders for communities in British Columbia over the weekend, and B.C. Wildfire Service official Cliff Chapman urged people to avoid travel to the Fort Nelson area and said residents should leave if they hadn’t already “due to the aggressive and extreme” fires.
- “The fuels are as dry as we have ever seen,” Chapman said in a briefing of conditions surrounding the Parker Lake fire, which had burned across some 13,000 acres as of Monday.
- “The wind is going to be sustained, and it is going to push the fire toward the community. Escape routes may be compromised and visibility will be poor as the fire continues to grow.”
- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued an air quality alert for the entire state that’s valid until 12 noon Monday local time due to “very heavy smoke from wildfires in northeast British Columbia.”
In Alberta, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo issued an evacuation alert for several communities in the Fort McMurray area due to “an out of control wildfire” that had burned across some 16,000 acres as of Sunday evening.
Context: About half of Canada is in drought, with B.C. and Alberta the driest provinces, according to the North America Drought Monitor.
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency:
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for all of Minnesota. The alert takes effect at 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 12, and runs until noon on Monday, May 13. The affected area includes the Twin Cities metro, Brainerd, Alexandria, Albert Lea, Marshall, Worthington, Rochester, Hinckley, St. Cloud, Winona, Ortonville, Mankato, Bemidji, East Grand Forks, Moorhead, International Falls, Two Harbors, Hibbing, Ely, Duluth, Roseau, and the tribal nations of Upper Sioux, Mille Lacs, Prairie Island, Leech Lake, Red Lake, Grand Portage, and Fond du Lac.
A band of very heavy smoke from wildfires in northeast British Columbia has moved into northern Minnesota and will sweep south across the state on Sunday behind a cold front. The smoke will reach central Minnesota by Sunday afternoon and southern Minnesota by Sunday evening. Smoke will clear the northern half of the state overnight and air quality will improve there. Smoke will persist through midday Monday across southern Minnesota and air quality will gradually improve through the day as the smoke begins to disperse. Air quality is expected to reach the Red (Unhealthy) category for much of the state.