When will the smog from wildfires clear from the Twin Cities?

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota set a record for poor air quality Thursday as large swaths of the state remained under a hazardous air quality warning triggered by smoke from wildfires in the northern part of the state and Canada.

“The smoke’s come back with a vengeance,” said Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Meteorologist Ryan Lueck on Thursday, noting the relatively clear start to summer compared to recent years. “We are seeing concentrations of smoke that we haven’t seen measured before.”

As the air quality index remained in the hazardous range in the Twin Cities, northeastern and central Minnesota Thursday afternoon, Lueck said the state had set its 24-hour record for average air quality index since the state started using the current system in 2014.

Air quality across wide areas of the state, from the Arrowhead Region to south of the Twin Cities, fell into the “hazardous” category, a level the MPCA defines as the “health warning of emergency conditions.”

At Grand Portage on Wednesday, the average AQI reached 620 — overshadowing a previous record of 283 set at the Red Lake Nation in July 2021. Anything more than 100 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, and anything above 301 is considered hazardous to everyone.

AQI isn’t the only record set this week in Minnesota. There also were peak levels of microscopic particles in wildfire smoke, which are particularly damaging to lung and cardiovascular health, according to MPCA officials.

Early Thursday morning, air quality monitoring in northeastern Minnesota read the worst single instance of fine particle pollution concentration since the current index became standard in 2014, according to Lueck.

At 6 a.m. in Ely, the hourly concentration of fine particles 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller in the air reached 797.5 micrograms per cubic meter — smashing the previous wildfire smoke pollution record in Grand Portage of around 476 set in 2025.

Before Thursday’s record measurement, the state had to qualify its records for particle pollution as being because of wildfire smoke, as an “exceptional event with fireworks” during the pandemic era in the Twin Cities had set a record in the 600s before, Lueck said.

The National Weather Service and the MPCA said in a statement on the MPCA website that the heavy smoke and haze is expected to gradually lift and clear out of the Twin Cities by Friday afternoon, due to shifting winds and a front bring in cleaner air. However, temperatures are expected remain high through the weekend.

Citing poor air quality and the need to preserve firefighting resources, the St. Paul Fire Code Official and Fire Marshal on Thursday have ordered a complete burn ban for St. Paul and Falcon Heights until further notice.

It incudes all recreational fires, campfires, and any blaze conducted under an open permit. However, approved cooking grills, such as consumer charcoal or gas models, are exempt.

And, St. Paul Parks and Rec posted a number of canceled events impacted by the smoke from the wildfire on their website.

All Ramsey County park programs are canceled July 16-18. Park programs include activities such as Nature Tots and Yoga in the Park.

Battle Creek Waterpark, which reopened last week after renovations, is temporarily closed. Lifeguarding at Long Lake in New Brighton also is temporarily suspended.

Activities at Tamarack Nature Center Day Camp in White Bear Township will be fully indoors.

While White Bear Lake’s Marketfest will continue as planned, the White Bear Lake Police Department has canceled its Public Safety Night event in order to limit outdoor exposure for its first responders.

Staff at Catholic Charities Twin Cities, a nonprofit that provides housing and food resources in St. Paul, started focusing on protecting clients from the unhealthy air Thursday, in addition to heat relief.

Elizabeth Heger, Catholic Charities associate vice president of emergency services, said people experiencing homelessness can be more vulnerable to poor air quality because of preexisting health conditions and fewer opportunities to be indoors. She said many of the shelter’s guests, particularly the elderly, have respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD.

“People can feel their throat getting scratchy, it’s hard to breathe, and being out in the heat just makes it that much worse,” she said. “As long as they know that we’re here, and they have the inside to retreat to, then they’re absolutely able to.”

The shelter is distributing face masks, checking on people throughout the day, educating them on why the air is unhealthy and encouraging them to come inside the building where they can escape both the poor air quality and the heat.

For Ramon Chavez, who has been staying at the shelter for nearly three months, the masks and cool indoor space have been helpful resources, but he said many people experiencing homelessness are unaware that the air was hazardous.

Earlier in the day Thursday, he stepped outside and was unaware of why it was hazy. He accompanied an elderly man to the store who struggled to catch his breath because of existing lung issues, he said.

“People will be out here and not even realize how bad it’s affecting them,” he said. “When you’re in this kind of place you don’t have access to the news and stuff like that, so you don’t know what’s going on.”