Smoky skies to stick around into Monday

Many of you have likely noticed that familiar, milky look to the skies today, helping to dim out the sun. The smoke is indeed back, and it may be a frequent feature in the sky this coming week.

Smoke from Canada has drifted over Minnesota since last night after a cold front passed us by to the north. While we didn’t see any precipitation, temperature changes or other effects from the cold front, it has brought smoke into our area.

This smoke will to continue to float overhead tonight and into Monday morning, before the thickest band of smoke moves off to the east over Wisconsin and Michigan. With that said, the skies may appear a bit more blue tomorrow afternoon than they did today, which will certainly be a welcome sight.

Heading toward the middle of the week, smoke from a large wildfire in southern California may be wafted our way by southwesterly to westerly upper level wind flow. This would once again leave our skies looking a bit hazy during the day, filtering out the sun a bit and potentially limiting our daytime highs slightly.

There are currently no expectations for this smoke to reach the ground tonight or toward the middle of the week thankfully, therefore not looking at any air quality concerns at this time. This can always change as we approach the middle of the week though, so make sure to check back for the latest updates, especially those who are more vulnerable to adverse health effects from smoke.