Storms carry wildfire smoke into metro-area air
FILE - Hazy skies are seen in the Twin Cities on Tuesday night, July 20, 2021.[Wren Clair/KSTP/File]
Thunderstorms that passed through the Twin Cities Thursday afternoon carried smoke into the air.
Hennepin County Emergency Management said the smoke, which was in the upper levels of the atmosphere from wildfires in northern Minnesota, was brought down to the surface by the storms.
Do you smell smoke? The thunderstorm that passed through Hennepin County in the last hour unfortunately brought smoke from the upper levels of the atmosphere down to the surface. Once the winds shift back to the east, the smoke should start to clear out. #mnwx #AirQuality
— Hennepin County Emergency Management (@HennepinEM) August 26, 2021
The smoke is expected to clear out by the evening hours.
The Sherburne County and Barron County, Wis., sheriff’s offices also noted the smoke in the air and asked residents to not call dispatchers to address it.
The smoke in the air today is from the wildfires in northern Minnesota. We’ve been receiving many calls to our dispatch center asking about the smoke. There are no fires locally. These calls are taking away from the real emergencies our dispatchers need to address.
— Sherburne Co Sheriff (@SherbCoSheriff) August 26, 2021
The state’s largest fire grew to over 40 square miles on Thursday.