MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is urging people living around the Twin Cities metro and parts of central Minnesota to limit their time outside as air quality worsens.
By Tuesday afternoon, the MPCA said air quality in metro suburbs outside the Interstate 494 loop and the 694 loop northwest to St. Cloud is now in the "red" category of the Air Quality Index.
The rest of southern and much of central Minnesota remains in the orange level on the Air Quality Index, meaning people with asthma or other breathing conditions, children and teenagers and those who engage in heavy physical activity outdoors should limit time outside.
The MPCA first issued the air quality alert on Monday, June 19 for the period between June 20-22. Unlike heavy Canadian wildfire smoke that prompted recent alerts, the agency said this time sunny skies, warm temperatures and low humidity would "create an environment conducive to producing ground-level pollutants."
The alert, which started at noon Tuesday and currently extends through 9 p.m. Thursday, covers approximately two-thirds of the state including central and southern Minnesota, and the Leech Lake, Mille Lacs, Upper Sioux and Prairie Island tribal nations. MPCA said air quality will be the worst in the afternoon and early evening when the sun is the hottest.
The MPCA added that the red air quality index alert is the agency's first for just ozone. "Our other red alerts have all been for wildfire smoke (fine particle pollution). This one is for just ground-level ozone," the agency said in a tweet.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) followed up by announcing that burning permits will not be issued or activated beginning at noon Tuesday and ending Thursday at 9 p.m. Counties impacted by the temporary burning rules include:
Aitkin, Anoka, Becker, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Cass, Chippewa, Chisago, Cottonwood, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Douglas, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Grant, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Isanti, Jackson, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Marin, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmstead, Otter Tail, Pine, Pipestone, Pope, Ramsey, Redwood, Renville, Rice, Rock, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Stearns, Steele, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Traverse, Wabasha, Wadena, Waseca, Washington, Watonwan, Winona, Wright, and Yellow Medicine.
For more on current burning restrictions due to air quality and tinder-dry conditions, check out the DNR website.
To learn more about the Air Quality Index, click here.
For information about poor air quality and what you can do to mitigate its effects on your health, click here.
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