AIR QUALITY ALERT NOW IN EFFECT THROUGH 3 PM CDT TUESDAY. LONG DURATION AND UNPRECEDENTED SIGNIFICANT AIR QUALITY EVENT UNFOLDING ACROSS MINNESOTA.

* WHAT...The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued an Air Quality Alert for fine particle pollution. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to reach the Purple or Very Unhealthy category. This will be a long duration and unprecedented significant air quality event for Minnesota.
* WHERE...Central and south central Minnesota.
* WHEN...Through 3 PM CDT Tuesday.
* IMPACTS...The risk of health effects is increased for everyone.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires lingers over most of Minnesota. High pressure will build over the area for Sunday and remain over the area for Monday into Tuesday morning. Smoke will recirculate under the high pressure, leading to prolonged period of heavy smoke. Fine particle levels will begin to improve Tuesday as southerly winds start moving the smoke out of the state. Fine particle levels are expected to reach the Purple AQI category, a level considered very unhealthy for everyone, across north central and south central Minnesota. Fine particle levels are expected to reach the Red AQI category, a level considered unhealthy for everyone, across northern and central Minnesota.

According to NOAA's HRRR model, it appears that the heaviest concentrations of near surface smoke will push south of the region on Sunday. This means we might have a little reprieve in the smoky haze closer to home with improved visibilities near the surface.

The US Drought Monitor released their latest drought update on Thursday, which suggested that drought conditions continue to deepen across the state. Last week, nearly 18% of the state was in an extreme drought, now nearly 22% is in an extreme drought. Severe drought conditions have expanded to 75% of the state, including the Twin Cities.

The map below shows precipitation departures from average since January 1st. Other than Wausau and Rhinelander, most locations are several inches below average since the beginning of the year. In fact, Minneapolis is at its 24th driest start to any year on record. Fargo is the 7th driest and Milwaukee 2nd driest.

Here's the precipitation potential through next Saturday, which doesn't show much in the way of any appreciative rainfall across the region. As we head through the first full week of August, expect more mostly dry weather.

The meteograms for Minneapolis on Sunday show temps warming from the mid 60F in the morning to near 80F by the afternoon. The day will remain dry with somewhat smoky/hazy conditions in place thanks to Canadian wildfires burning nearly 600 miles to our north. Winds will continue out of the north and could gust close to 20mph at times.

The weather outlook across the region on Sunday shows cooler than average temperatures in place for the first day of August. Temps will only warm into the 70s and low 80s, which will be nearly -5F below average. Most locations around the region will stay dry, but smoky/hazy conditions may be a problem in some spots.

The extended weather outlook for Minneapolis shows a string of 80s continuing through the first full week of August. Note that we'll actually be a little below average through Monday, but temps will bump up to above average levels again later this week.

Here's the extended weather outlook through the middle part of the week, which shows mostly dry weather close to home for several days.

Here's the rainfall potential through 7PM Monday, which shows the heaviest rains from over the weekend heading southeast into the Middle Mississippi Valley. Other than that, it doesn't look like much rain potential across the Upper Midwest over the next several days.

"Welcome to Minnesota! Would you prefer to be seated in Smoking or Non-Smoking?" Peering up at a tired, cherry-red sun through a sky that resembles a dirty ashtray is getting old.

Yesterday little bits of ash fell out of a sky that would have felt right at home in Beijing or New Delhi. It looked like snow flurries. The result of Canadian fires a couple hundred miles upwind is the worst air quality on record, and yes, there's a climate connection. A warmer climate is drying out an already-arid western US. Fire season lasts 2 months longer, and wildfires have doubled since the 1980s, burning bigger, longer and hotter due to man-made warming.

August kicks off on a comfortable note today with murky sunshine, the state smelling like a campfire gone bad. Dry weather holds with only a slight opportunity for thunder by late week as temperatures approach 90.

It can always be worse. My Navy son is deployed in the Mideast. "Dad, every day I wake up to 105 degrees. The sunshine hurts your skin." Uffda, no thanks.

SUNDAY: Murky, smoky sun. Winds: N 10-15. High: 79.

MONDAY: A mix of sun, clouds and smoke. Winds: NW 8-13. High: 82.

TUESDAY: Better visibility, less smoke. Winds: W 5-10. Wake-up: 63. High: 84.

WEDNESDAY: Plenty of hazy sunshine, heating up. Winds: SW 8-13. Wake-up: 65. High: 86.

THURSDAY: Some sun, chance of thunder. Winds: SW 10-15. Wake-up: 69. High: 85.

FRIDAY: Hot sunshine returns. Winds: S 10-20. Wake-up: 68. High: 89.

August 1st

1955: A thunderstorm in Becker County dumps a foot of rain at Callaway.

August 1st

Average High: 83F (Record: 101F set in 1988)

Average Low: 64F (Record: 49F set in 1962)

July 27th

Sunrise: 5:59am

Sunset: 8:39pm

Hours of Daylight: ~14 hours & 40 minutes

Daylight LOST since yesterday: ~ 2 minute & 23 seconds

1.7 Days After Last Quarter Moon

"Moon sweeps by Taurus As the moon orbits Earth, a waning crescent appears in the early morning sky every month. And it sweeps past whatever bright stars and planets happen to be in that part of the sky. Unless you're a night owl, you won't see the moon and constellation Taurus the Bull ascending in the east before your bedtime. But you will see them before the beginning of astronomical twilight on August 2, 3 and 4, 2021. On these mornings, the moon and stars of Taurus will climb highest up just before daybreak. The chart at top is designed for mid-northern North American latitudes. But the moon will be passing in front of Taurus on these dates as seen from around the world. Before dawn in the world's Eastern Hemisphere – Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand – look for the moon to be offset toward the previous date. The farther east you live, the greater the offset. On the morning of August 2, the moon will pass to the south of the Pleiades star cluster. The following day, August 3, will find the moon sweeping to the north of Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus. Aldebaran is a bright red star, part of a V-shaped pattern that represents the Bull's Face. Red Aldebaran represents the Bull's fiery Eye."

See more from Earth Sky HERE:

The weather outlook on Sunday shows below average temps in place across much of the Midwest. However, temps across the Gulf Coast States will be quite hot and humid, where feels like temps will approach 105F to 110F.

The national weather outlook through the rest of the weekend and into early next week shows widespread showers and storms continuing in the Intermountain West with pockets of locally heavy rain. There will also be areas of heavy rain developing in the Southeast.

Starting next week, the National Weather Service will begin using more specific lingo to alert residents to the severity and potential impacts from thunderstorms — similar to tornado and flash-flood warnings. Why it matters: 13 of the 22 billion-dollar weather and climate events in the U.S. last year were severe thunderstorms. What to expect: Destructive: Baseball-sized hail and/or 80mph winds; will activate cell-phone alerts. Considerable: Golf-ball-sized hail and/or 70mph winds; no cell-phone alert. Baseline: Quarter-sized hail and/or 50mph winds; no threat tag means the storm is expected to be at or below base level.

See more from AXIOS HERE:

"A succession of record-breaking natural disasters have swept the globe in recent weeks. There have been serious floods in China and western Europe, heatwaves and drought in North America and wildfires in the sub-Arctic. An annual report on the UK's weather indicates extreme events are becoming commonplace in the country's once mild climate. August 2020 saw temperatures hit 34°C on six consecutive days across southern England, including five sticky nights where the mercury stayed above 20°C. In the future, British summers are likely to see temperatures greater than 40°C regularly, even if global warming is limited to 1.5°C. The Canadian national temperature record was shattered in June 2021 meanwhile, with 49.6°C recorded in Lytton, British Columbia – a town that was all but destroyed by wildfires a few days later."

See more from The Conversation HERE:

"Temperatures dropped across Brazil on Thursday - with rare snowfall overnight in some places - as a polar air mass advanced toward the center-south of the global agricultural powerhouse, threatening coffee, sugarcane and orange crops with frost. Cars, streets and highways were blanketed in ice while people took the opportunity to take pictures and play in the snow, building snowmen. "I am 62 years old and had never seen the snow, you know? To see nature's beauty is something indescribable," said truck driver Iodor Goncalves Marques in Cambara do Sul, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul state, speaking to TV Globo network. More than 40 cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul had icy conditions and at least 33 municipalities had snow, reported the meteorology company Somar Meteorologia."