Air quality alert remains in effect for Minnesota, more smoke expected Sunday night

(FOX 9) - After a smoky Saturday in Minnesota, air conditions improved on Sunday but an air quality alert is still in effect and we could see more smoke going forward.

The statewide air quality alert continues until 3 p.m. on Tuesday. While the situation improved, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency says more smoke is expected Sunday night, which means it will continue to be unhealthy for people with asthma, heart disease, or high blood pressure to exercise outdoors while this smoke is in the air.

As fires burn in the forests of Ontario, in Minnesota we’ve seen the consequences right in our backyards.

The St. Louis Park Pool was closed on Saturday because of the air quality.

"It wasn’t fun, it kind of killed the vibe, you know it was a nice day but then with all the haze and all the smoke it just kind of made it gloomy," Bryce Vogel said. "You could barely see the sun, the smoke was heavy and you could smell it."

While the smoke had an effect on many people, their descriptions of it varied:

"It was just a weird yellow-green color," Steve Kitsis said. "It was an apocalyptic kind of feeling."

"It’s as bad as a haze as we’ve ever seen and it’s enough to be depressing in itself. It just feels like this is unhealthy," David Potter said. "It [causes] a tightness in your chest, you can just feel like getting a cold."

Since Thursday, smoke from raging forest fires in Canada smothered outdoor plans for many around the Twin Cities.

"We were supposed to go to the pool a couple of days ago but obviously they were closed," Jenny Swenson told FOX 9.

Sunday brought a bit of relief, as the skies cleared… and the pool reopened.

"This is a heck of an improvement," Bryce Vogeln said.

"We thought this was a lot better than yesterday," Potter added.