Air quality alert issued for central Minnesota

An air quality alert has been issued for a large portion of central Minnesota.

Monday morning, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) issued the alert, which is slated to run through noon Tuesday.

The agency says fine particle levels in areas from Hill River State Forest all the way down to Janesville — including parts of the Twin Cities metro area — are expected to reach the “orange” quality category, which is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Much of the rest of the state is in the “yellow” category, which is just slightly-worse-than-normal air quality.

The MPCA says air may be hazy in those areas and could aggravate heart and lung disease, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. People in sensitive groups are encouraged to reduce outdoor activities or take more breaks until the air quality returns to normal.

Another hazy day in the Twin Cities, and more impacts to air quality. Remember that we are under an air quality alert through Tuesday at noon.

The air could be unhealthy for those with cardiovascular or respiratory issues. More info here: https://t.co/fRCoiTRDn9 pic.twitter.com/kuQULzsWay

— Matt Serwe (@SerweWX) January 9, 2023

More information is available online.