Wildfire smoke, poor air quality likely Sunday night into Monday

Here’s your Sunday night forecast for May 12, 2024 from Minnesota’s Weather Authority and Meteorologist Matt Serwe.

An Air Quality Alert is in effect for all of Minnesota until noon Monday, and all of Wisconsin until 10:00 AM Monday.

A cold front continues to move slowly south across the state tonight. Ahead of the front through sunset, isolated rain and storms are possible southeast of the Twin Cities. Behind the front, north winds are pulling in Canadian wildfire smoke for the first time all season. Unhealthy air is likely across northern and central Minnesota Sunday evening, pushing into the Twin Cities metro after sunset. The smoke thins out a little by morning, but people with chronic heart or lung issues could have a rough morning on Monday. This also includes kids with asthma who are walking to school!

Monday and Tuesday will be beautiful. High pressure keeps the sky mostly clear and highs will be seasonable around 70°. The jet stream becomes more active through the second half of the week. Beginning Wednesday evening, a series of weak waves will move across the northern United States. We will see several rounds of scattered rain and a few opportunities for thunderstorms Thursday through Sunday. None of these will keep you inside all day, but you will need to watch the radar if you have outdoor plans.