Air quality alert extended to Tuesday evening for east, southeastern Minnesota

Air quality alert extended to Tuesday evening for east, southeastern Minnesota

The air quality alert for Minnesota and western Wisconsin has been extended until Tuesday evening.

The air quality alert for Minnesota and western Wisconsin has been extended until Tuesday evening.

The alert was initially scheduled to expire at 9 a.m. Monday but was extended for the east-central and southeastern parts of the state — including the Twin Cities — due to lingering fine particle pollution. After initially extending it until 11:59 p.m. Monday, officials extended it again to 6 p.m. Tuesday and expanded the impacted area.

Affected counties in Minnesota include: Anoka, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Faribault, Freeborn, Goodhue, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Le Sueur, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Mille Lacs, Nicollet, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sibley, Steele, Waseca, Washington, Watonwan and Wright.

In Wisconsin, affected counties include: Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Rusk and St. Croix.

Air in the areas highlighted in orange on the map are deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups while the quality in the red area is considered unhealthy for everyone.

For severe weather alerts, visit KSTP’s severe weather alert page.

For current air quality conditions, visit the MPCA’s current air quality conditions.