Smoke from Canada's wildfires is pouring back into the United States

All Minnesota and Wisconsin are under air quality warnings Friday and into the weekend. Although there are no alerts for the Dakotas and Montana, air quality has begun to deteriorate there as well.

Cities at risk of smog through Saturday include Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Fargo, North Korea and possibly Chicago.

The source of the smoke is large fires burning in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, amid Canada's worst fire season on record.

A persistent cold front from a storm system moving across central Canada is the main mechanism that drags the smoke south into the United States. Weather patterns signal the possibility of more smoke pouring into the Lower 48 through the weekend and possibly beyond.

Smoke reaches the Lower 48 states

On Friday morning, thick smoke drifted across the northern tier of the United States. Code Red to Code Purple Air quality levels indicating unhealthy amounts of smoke pollution had reached North Dakota and parts of Montana. The bad air is moving southeastward over time, toward the Midwest and Great Lakes.

North of the border, some of the worst air quality could be found in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as areas east of James Bay in Quebec. Calgary and Edmonton both reported Red Red or worse and limited visibility.

Bad news for this year's smoky air, in four maps and charts

The main pollutant in wildfire smoke that travels away from the source is fine particulate matter, often called PM2.5. Prolonged exposure to low-level smoke can cause various health ailments, especially among susceptible groups.

Air quality code orange, which means unhealthy levels of pollution for sensitive groups, is already foreseen on Saturday for Minnesota, Wisconsin, much of Iowa and parts of Illinois and Michigan. This area may expand and some areas may experience Red Red or worse pollution levels.

Wind flow remains favorable enough to carry additional smoke south and east into the Lower 48 through the weekend. As it rounds the base of an area of ​​low pressure between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay, the smoke may eventually be pushed east to the northeast.

So far this year, smoke coming from western Canada has mostly stayed at high altitudes as it approaches the east coast, where it has little impact on air quality. The episodes of most harmful near-ground smoke in the eastern US originate primarily from eastern Canada. However, the plumes now entering the Upper Midwest are particularly dense, so low-level smoke may become a problem in the Ohio Valley, mid-Atlantic, and Northeast early next week.

Canada sees 100 degree temperatures in the north as wildfires rage

Weather patterns this summer have conspired to unleash multiple bursts of smoke and that will likely happen in the coming weeks. Areas of low pressure north of the Great Lakes, trapped in atmospheric blockages over Canada, have spewed fronts to the southeast, producing smoke since May.

Meanwhile, persistent areas of high pressure in western and northwestern Canada, mirrored at times in the east and northeast, have produced unseasonably warm and dry weather that favors wildfires. This is forecast to continue into next week and possibly beyond.

Fire season is Canada's worst on record, approaching 9.5 million hectares burned. At least 560 thousand hectares burned over The last week single.

A firefighter was killed Thursday after being injured while responding to a wildfire in southern British Columbia. according to statement from the Union of General Employees of K.S.

This is the first known death of a firefighter battling wild infernos in Canada this year. Thousands are now battling the flames from coast to coast, as officials in British Columbia are asking 1,000 more firefighters and new teams are arriving from Australia.

More than 350 major fires are underway in British Columbia. With about 1.2 million hectares burned since Thursday2023 is just around the corner the worst fire season on record in the province.

While fire conditions have it improved somewhat temporarily In parts of the East, some of the largest and most out-of-control fires are still chewing through forests and spewing smoke around the southern wing of Hudson Bay, known as James Bay. Quebec has now seen 4 million hectares burned, more than doubling that previous record of 1.9 million hectares in 2013.

The fire season in Canada is typically hitting its stride now, with the peak months still ahead, lasting into early fall.