* WHAT. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued an Air Quality Alert for fine particles pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to reach the Purple or Very Unhealthy category. * WHERE. .The North Shore of Lake Superior and surrounding areas including Duluth, Two Harbors, Grand Portage, Grand Marais, and Cloquet. * WHEN. Until 5 PM CDT Saturday. * IMPACTS. The risk of health effects is increased for everyone. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS. Northerly winds will continue transporting waves of heavy surface smoke from wildfires across Manitoba and Saskatchewan into Minnesota. Smoke will move south across all of Minnesota and linger through Saturday afternoon. The smoke will be reinforced by an area of high pressure that will create light winds and limit the dispersion of smoke. Heavier smoke is now expected to make it into southern Minnesota, therefore all of Minnesota will likely experience Red/Unhealthy AQI at times through Saturday afternoon when the air quality is forecasted to improve. Very dense smoke is located over Lake Superior, and the AQI forecast has been upgraded to Purple, which is very unhealthy air quality.
