Air quality has turned unhealthy for parts of the Upper Midwest in the US, including the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, as smoke drifts south from ongoing Canadian forest fires, according to AirNow.gov.
The US National Weather Service said air quality alerts have been posted for Minnesota and Wisconsin.
At the same time, extreme fire weather dangers exist in parts of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, Natural Resources Canada warns. Dry conditions can lead to fast spreading fires that are hard to control.
Further south, 12 million people along the US Gulf of Mexico coast face an enhanced severe thunderstorm risk on Monday.
The storms may bring large hail, high winds and “a few tornados,” the US Storm Prediction Center said. There is a flood watch posted from eastern Texas to southern Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, including New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. Upwards to 6 inches (15 centimeters) of rain could fall, with some locations getting as much as 8 inches.
The main threat will shift Tuesday into the US southeast, where there will be a marginal risk of the powerful storm systems.
In other weather news:
Australia: Some areas along the coast south of Sydney received more than 100 millimeters (4 inches) of rain in the last 24 hours.
India: Another heat wave is forecast across northwest India starting May 16, the India Meteorological Department said. Meanwhile, very heavy rainfall fell in parts of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and isolated areas of Odisha, Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Kerala. Hail was observed in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh and several other locations.
Japan: The Tokyo area is expecting heavy thunderstorms and higher elevations may experience mudslides.
Photo: Smoke from the McDougall Creek wildfire in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. British Columbia is experiencing the most destructive wildfire season on record, with an area nearly the size of New Jersey already burned.
Topics Catastrophe USA Natural Disasters Wildfire
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