The Air Quality Index (AQI), a system used to communicate how much pollution is in the air, is expected to reach the red or unhealthy category in a large swath of Minnesota, and will likely remain so through Saturday.

An air quality alert covering the entire state of Minnesota continues on Thursday, marring otherwise fairly ideal weather conditions.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires hovered over several Midwestern states Saturday, bringing warnings of unhealthy air for at least the third day.