MADISON, Wis. – Smoke from wildfires in Canada has prompted health warnings across the upper Midwest for the second year in a row.
Fires ravaging British Columbia and Alberta spread haze over parts of Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, persisting into Monday morning.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency issued its first air quality advisory of the season for the entire state on Sunday. The agency said pollution levels will not be healthy for everyone. The agency urged people to stay indoors and avoid extensive outdoor exertion until the advisory expires at noon Monday.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued advisories for several counties in the northern two-thirds of the state on Sunday, warning that the air quality is unhealthy for sensitive people. The warnings were also supposed to end at noon on Monday.
Rafal Ogorek, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Chicago office, said at least some of the smoke could spread as far south as Iowa and Chicago, leaving the sky with a milky appearance late Tuesday or early Wednesday. fair.
Nearly 90 fires are currently burning in Canada, according to the Canadian government’s National Wildfire Situation report. A fire raging near Fort Nelson in far northeastern British Columbia has forced evacuations.
Most of the smoke is suspended between a mile and two miles above the ground, said Ogorek of the National Weather Service. Prevailing winds are pushing smoke south and east, he said.
Canada saw a record number of wildfires in 2023, which also caused choking smoke in parts of the US and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate across British Columbia. Smoke from these fires has led to hazy skies and health warnings in several US cities.
The chances of more wildfires occurring this summer appear high. Northeastern British Columbia, northwestern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories are experiencing intense drought, meaning lightning strikes could trigger rapidly growing fires, according to the Canadian National Wildland Fire Situation report.
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Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minn., and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
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