Wildfire smoke will persist across Minnesota on Saturday, creating hazy sunshine and poor air quality as we kick off the weekend. An air quality alert has been extended through Monday at noon.

It’s another mild but hazy Thursday in Minnesota, with wildfire smoke from Canada continuing to impact air quality across the state.

MPCA maps posted Thursday show that most of Minnesota is still dealing with air in the unhealthy category due to smoke blowing in from Canadian wildfires.

Heavy storms in the Carolinas brought between 1 to 4 inches of rain and prompted several flash flood warnings on Friday.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an AIR QUALITY ALERT for all of Minnesota until late Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Iowa DNR has issued an AIR QUALITY ALERT for all of Iowa through Friday night.

Smoke from wildfires blazing across Canada is once again wafting over huge portions of the Midwest and worsening air quality, with conditions particularly bad on August 1 in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.