Alberta wildfires bring smoke to SD

Several massive wildfires are currently burning across northern Alberta with the Chuckegg Creek fire being the largest at 150,000 hecatres (370,658 acres).

These fires are sending plumes of smoke to the southeast where they are impacting air quality and visibility across the north-central US.

The closed 700 mb low over Iowa is bringing northeasterly winds to South Dakota which is allowing the smoke to travel across the state.

And visible satellite really picked up the smoke this morning when the sun angle was low.

May wildfires are not out of the norm for Alberta. Recall the Fort McMurray wildfire of early May 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Fort_McMurray_wildfire.

So if you see or smell smoke across the region, realize it is not of local origin.