Paul HuttnerHere we go again.
Our second wildfire smoke-related air quality alert this week is up for western Minnesota. This alert is bigger than the last one and covers all of western Minnesota.
An Air Quality Alert has been issued for western Minnesota due to wildfire smoke for Thu Aug 9 into Sat Aug 11. For additional information: https://t.co/fkqUDBBa6w #MNwx #MNairqualityalert pic.twitter.com/x53K821UVU
— MN Air Quality Index (@mpca_aqi) August 9, 2018
Smoke visible from space
The massive smoke plume we’ve been tracking for weeks is getting thicker over Minnesota skies. The plume is clearly visible from weather satellites orbiting 22,300 miles up in space.
Here's the GOES-East satellite's view of sun rising over smokey skies in the area this morning. This smoke is from wildfires in western Canada. #mnwx #wiwx pic.twitter.com/eOdR6GgUqB
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) August 9, 2018
Most of the smoke over Minnesota is coming from fires in western Canada. Trajectory maps show the path the smoke has traveled to get to Minnesota, and beyond.
This backward calculated trajectory shows where smoke currently over the Twin Cities was approximately located 38 hours ago (at 7 PM CDT August 7, 2018). pic.twitter.com/SXincibv4W
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) August 9, 2018
Sensors on GOES-E use certain wavelengths that detect smoke particles. Earlier today the thickest plume drifted across southern Minnesota including the Twin Cities.
GOES-East aerosol optical depth provides some information on where aerosols (primarily smoke at the current time) are most prominent. Here is its view at 1007 AM CDT (it cannot be derived where white is shown due to clouds or other reasons). Details at https://t.co/ib0tUYwf7V pic.twitter.com/zI9uk2kC9V
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) August 9, 2018
United States of Smoke
The smoke plume across North America is massive now. Fires from western Canada and the western U.S. are blanketing a huge area. Smoke from the fires is drifting into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Greenland. That’s over 3,000 miles from the fire zone.
This is nuts. NOAA analysis Thursday afternoon shows the smoke plume from fires across western North America drifting as far as the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Greenland. That's more than 3,000 miles! https://t.co/D6YV0cqdoP pic.twitter.com/f5vfmpWKZa
— MPR Weather (@MPRweather) August 9, 2018
Health impacts
The smoke is thicker in the west as you might expect, but it can still have impacts here in Minnesota. Here’s a guide from Los Angeles County and KQED.
Protect yourself from wildfire smoke:
– Shut windows & doors
– Run the A.C. (close fresh-air intake)
– Avoid activities that pollute indoor air (burning candles, vacuuming)
– Don't rely on surgical/dust masks; they don't block small particles.More tips: https://t.co/I2rIBsaN9p pic.twitter.com/Zm9MeREvYC
— Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) August 9, 2018
The smoke scatters light rays to produce some pretty eerie but beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
Smoky #sunrise scene at NWS Seattle. #wawx pic.twitter.com/JSxfmUUnab
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) August 9, 2018
Expect the smoke plume to be with us in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.
