Currently in the Twin Cities — August 19, 2024: Wildfire smoke continues

The weather, currently.

Canadian wildfire smoke returned to the skies of the region over the weekend. Expect moderate air quality and haze to start the week. Monday will otherwise be another sun-filled day with highs back in the low to mid 80s. The normal high is about 80 degrees.

We should remain mainly dry until possibly Thursday when spotty thunder is likely in western Minnesota. How far east that moisture reaches is a question.

We’ll be heating up heading into the weekend. Some forecast models push us to 90 degrees. We’ve only had 6 this summer. Normal to date is 10.

— Sven Sundgaard

What you can do, currently.

A Media Matters analysis found that last year — the hottest calendar year on record — network coverage of climate actually declined in the US. What’s worse, just 12% of reports about climate change mentioned fossil fuels as the driving cause. The media still reported on extreme weather, but stopped short of making the climate connection.

Independent climate journalism like Currently is needed more than ever. And this year, with all of these weather warnings already underway, we’ll unfortunately have plenty of opportunities to do better.