Bad air returns as high school sports teams gear up for first practices

An air quality alert remained in effect for the entire state of Minnesota on Monday morning and could have an impact on the first day of high school sports practices.

The heavy plume of smoke drifting into Minnesota from wildfires in central Saskatchewan and Manitoba chased Meagan Haugeto into her house in Royalton, Minn.

Though not the worst air of the season, a haze covered Royalton, north of St. Cloud on Hwy. 10. Haugeto runs a community garden in her backyard and had planned to spend the day harvesting vegetables to donate to the hungry in the community, and cutting flowers. After an hour in the garden Monday, she had to call it quits.

“It smells like a bonfire,” she told the Minnesota Star Tribune. “It’s heavy on the chest, hard to breathe and stinky.”

A large area of unhealthy air as deemed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) was moving across the state Monday as conditions worsened throughout the day. An air quality alert covering all 87 counties in Minnesota was in effect until 9 a.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said.

At midafternoon, the worst air stretched from west of International Falls to Roseau and south to East Grand Forks, Brainerd, Moorhead and Fergus Falls.

At 1:30 p.m., Bemidji reported the worst air in the state. Air quality is ranked on a scale of 0 to 500, with the higher the number the worse the air. AQI values over 300 represent hazardous air quality. Bemidji checked in at 179.

Football finished by early afternoon, while tennis and soccer teams wrapped up before noon. The boy’s soccer team will practice Monday night when air should improve.

The school curtails outdoor activities if air quality index reaches 200, and is ready to go inside when the index reaches 170. “That is a red flag,” she said.

Readings were below 170 in Bemidji during morning practices, according to the MPCA.

Coaches, she said, were “super aware of athletes” and paying attention to their breathing. “The groups had a good plan in place.”

Outdoor activity should be moved indoors when readings reach 150, and moved indoors, canceled or postponed when readings reach 200, according to Minnesota State High School League guidelines.

“I think everyone has been affected by it this summer,” she said.

Readings reached above 170 in northwestern and west central Minnesota Monday afternoon, 153 in the St. Cloud area and Royalton. Readings were forecasted to rise over 130 in the metro area and 112 in Rochester by afternoon and evening, according to airnow.gov.