Air quality alert issued for Cook County, Boundary Waters

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for the northern half of Minnesota effective through Sunday, August 19 at noon. The affected area covers all of northern Minnesota, including all of Cook County and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

A large area of Canadian wildfire smoke is moving into far northwest Minnesota and will move south and east covering much of the northern half of the state by early Friday morning. Air pollution monitors show a rapid rise in fine particles with weather observations showing visibility dropping to 2-5 miles in this plume of smoke over northern Minnesota.

The smoke plume is from fires in British Columbia and Alberta and from wildfires north of Kenora in western Ontario. Periods of smoke are expected to remain in this area through Sunday morning. During this time, fine particle pollution is expected to remain at, or above, a level that is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, including older adults and young children.

By Saturday afternoon winds will begin to decrease the transport of smoke into the affected region. The southern half of Minnesota will be monitored for an air quality alert Friday night into Saturday.

In related news, there is currently a campfire ban in Quetico Provincial Park, though not in the BWCA as of Aug. 17. 

WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs spoke with MPCA Meteorologist Daniel Dix about the air quality alert and smoke in northern Minnesota.