Wildfire smoke lingers across much of Minnesota

Wildfire smoke continues to swirl above much of Minnesota Friday.

You can see the smoke appears as a hazy film on the GOES-16 visible satellite loops swirling counter-clockwise around a high-pressure system over Minnesota.

From ground level looking up, the sky has a diffuse whitish tint across most of Minnesota Friday. Smoke particles scatter out the bluer wavelengths and the sky shows a whitish tint compared to the typical deep blue.

The air quality at ground levels is good across southeast Minnesota. But some of the smoke has made its way to ground levels across northern and western Minnesota. Air quality has reached an unhealthy level in the Red River Valley.

The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s HRRR model smoke forecast product continues to show smoke swirling above parts of Minnesota into Saturday. Here’s the forecast for vertically integrated smoke at 6 am Saturday.