Air Quality Alert in effect midweek as hot weather continues

Here’s your Tuesday afternoon forecast for June 20, 2023 from Minnesota’s Weather Authority and Meteorologist Matt Serwe.

An Air Quality Alert is in effect from Tuesday afternoon through Thursday evening for most of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro.

High pressure over the Great Lakes is keeping the sky mainly cloud-free across Minnesota and Wisconsin. The southeast winds are pulling in some mid-level wildfire smoke from eastern Canada. Even though there is a lot of clear sky in the forecast, it will look less than blue the next couple of days. Air quality will be poor again today, but not from that wildfire smoke. This is a typical ozone issue from pollution on hot days. If you have chronic heart or lung issues, it could be difficult to be outside the next few days.

Later this week, the high shifts farther east, letting a front finally move out of the Plains. Rain and storm chances likely stay north or west of the Twin Cities Thursday and Friday. By Saturday afternoon and evening, strong and severe storms are possible across the southern half of the state. Once again, if you are going to the Taylor Swift show Saturday, or spending time at Twin Cities Pride, make sure you have a plan to get severe weather information! In addition to possible hail and high winds, these storms will bring some needed rain to the state. Locally, 2 to 3 inches of rain is possible in the strongest storms.