Minnesota, Wisconsin issue air quality alert amid Canada wildfire smoke

Smoke emerging from a wildfire is seen from a passenger train on the Prince George-Prince Rupert line near Telkwa, British Columbia, on Monday.

Ulysse Bellier/AFP via Getty Images

Only a few weeks after Canada’s smoke covered the Midwest, a new outburst of plumes are traveling to Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Both states have issued statewide warnings regarding their air quality this weekend. It’s expected to be most dangerous for sensitive groups, including children, older people and people with respiratory diseases.

The unhealthy haze comes less than three weeks after Canada’s unprecedented wildfire season put the Midwest, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Columbus, Ohio, under code red and purple air quality alerts. Under those conditions, people were asked to limit or avoid physical activity outdoors.

Parts of North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana are forecast to be under unhealthy air quality on Saturday as well, according to AirNow.gov.

Minnesota

A statewide code orange air quality alert is in effect until 3 p.m. CST Saturday, meaning the air quality will be unhealthy for sensitive groups.

As of Saturday morning, smoke from Canada’s wildfires is largely compromising the air quality in south Minnesota. Most of the region is under a red alert, which deems the air unhealthy for everyone.

The air quality index in the southern part of the Twin Cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis, was ranked among the highest and most dangerous in the country Saturday morning, according to AirNow.gov.

In central Minnesota, the air quality was also in orange as of…