Air quality alerts and warming temps into the weekend, tracking thunderstorms early next week

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00:00Well, Canadian wildfire smoke has returned much of the state, seeing hazy skies and reduced air

00:05quality for the northern part of the state. Meanwhile, temperatures are warming up and

00:08the heat ends with thunderstorms Monday night into Tuesday.

00:21So nasty, hazy smoke in the air here. The dirty gray is that wildfire smoke filtering in the

00:29brighter whites. That's actual cloud cover. So what you're seeing is just smoke. The sky is pretty

00:34much crystal clear across the state, but that smoke is what is blocking or filtering the sun in

00:40times. I showed you yesterday numerous fires throughout much of Canada already. It is a bad

00:45start to the season there, and it's because they're seeing drought and above normal temperatures here.

00:50Much of central and western Canada below normal for rainfall and pockets of drought, and it lines up

00:56kind of perfectly with where those fires are. The orange areas are areas that are seeing at least

01:00moderate drought already, and that is causing those fires to burn. And in Canada, they don't try to put

01:06out the fires because they're so remote. They let them burn. So it might be a long season here.

01:10The models showing that smoke drifting in on and off, at least in the short term, the next few days,

01:15expect hazy skies and potentially reduced air quality even in southern Minnesota at times. But for the time

01:21being, air quality alert for northeastern Minnesota today, northwestern Minnesota tomorrow, expected to

01:26get into the red category, which is unhealthy for everybody in northwestern Minnesota on Saturday.

01:32And it'll make some pretty sunrises and sunsets, but it is not good, of course, otherwise. Temperatures

01:38should reach close to 80 today, into the 80s tomorrow. But one thing we're going to have to watch is this

01:43thick smoke does act like cloud cover. It might cost us a few degrees on temperatures. So that's one thing

01:48we'll monitor. But upper 80s, some 90 degree readings to the west on Sunday, and then a shot

01:53at 90 here in the Twin Cities and much of the state on Monday before we see some storms. We'll see a

01:59pattern shift. Thunderstorms develop in western Minnesota late Monday. So we have that upper

02:04level ridge that's high pressure, essentially, big heat dome kind of moving in for a couple of days.

02:09This is Sunday into Monday. And then a big trough develops once again. That's cool air aloft,

02:14creating instability and pushing the moisture north ahead of it. And that will allow for storms to

02:19develop. So a dry heat this weekend. We're not talking about the heat advisors, excessive heat

02:24warnings. But by Tuesday, dew points do increase into the 60s. So sufficient moisture to help produce some

02:29showers and thunderstorms. And then those dew points will drop Wednesday as we get into some cooler air

02:33again. But as far as severe weather goes, we're going to see storms develop in South Dakota, western

02:37Minnesota late Monday. And then we'll see the leftovers Monday night into Tuesday. Looks like the severe

02:42threat for eastern Minnesota will be minimal or non-existent because of just the timing here.

02:48We'll see showers and storms much of the day Tuesday. That'll prevent really severe weather. So

02:52the risk is really Monday into Monday night for west central Minnesota into South Dakota and western

02:57Nebraska. And then Tuesday, mostly just showers and thunderstorms, garden variety moving through.

03:03And then we'll be in a cooler pattern. A little bit of a trough here in the upper levels, which means

03:07some slightly cooler air. But actually, seasonable temperatures Wednesday, Thursday,

03:11mostly back into the 70s with that drop in humidity. Still some lingering clouds Wednesday,

03:17but should see more sunshine break back out again by Thursday. So 81 today, but don't be surprised if

03:24we only make it into the mid to upper 70s. We'll have to watch how that smoke does affect the

03:28temperatures. 83 tomorrow, still smoky skies, probably Saturday and Sunday. Warming up though,

03:3590 Monday. If we can get rid of the smoke though, those temperatures could be warmer both Sunday and

03:40Monday. And then Tuesday, the showers and thunderstorms push through. Cooler, more comfortable

03:44behind it. Back into the 70s with cooler overnights. Tuesday and Wednesday nights too, back into the 50s.