Thick wildfire smoke aloft over Minnesota

Have you noticed the whitish-tinted sky Tuesday? A massive plume of wildfire smoke from western fires has drifted over Minnesota and turned our land of sky-blue waters to a whiter shade of pale.

The smoke plume is mostly aloft, but it’s enough to dim the sun and create that white tint. The photo at the top of this post also shows a few altocumulus clouds, but the sky in between is whiter than blue.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-16 visible satellite loop Tuesday shows the smoky smudge drifting over Minnesota from the west. Note the thickest part of the plume working into northwestern Minnesota Tuesday afternoon.

NOAA’s High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model shows the smoke plumes drifting over Minnesota through Wednesday. The forecast model loop below runs from Tuesday afternoon through 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Air quality OK as smoke stays mostly aloft

Most of the smoke will remain several thousand feet above ground level this week. Air quality at the surface where we breathe Tuesday is good to moderate over Minnesota. But note the unhealthy air over parts of the Dakotas.

The forecast calls for mostly good to moderate air quality this week.