1:00 AM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air. I can smell the unmistakable odor of wood smoke outside. It is as weak as it can get. If it was any weaker, I would not be able to tell it was wood smoke. The windows are closed as always. I do not know how strong the smoke got because I did not wake again until the alarm went off. It is not uncommon for bonfires to start after midnight.
9:10 PM: No wood smoke where we live yet. The upcoming 4th of July weekend will be a smoky hell, so we sure could use a day without wood smoke leading up to it.
There was no wood smoke this evening. Not a trace. We enjoyed unpolluted air like all human beings deserve.
Recreational Fires Must Be Eliminated
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WELCOME TO HELL ON EARTH
The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.
WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!
Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!
Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.
The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.
Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.
Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?
Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.
Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.
You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.
If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.
Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.
North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.
Tell others about this blog!
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The air is smoky from burning wood in North St. Paul, MN, almost every evening. It is a nightmare. What used to be a nice place to live has become a living hell.
WARNING: If you buy a house in North St. Paul, MN, you will regret it! It may be the biggest, most expensive mistake you ever make. You will breathe smoky air almost every day of your life in this town. This is not an exaggeration. The wood smoke in this town gets heavy and gets heavy often. When you want to get out of this dump of a town, how many people do you think are going to want to buy a house in a city where heavy air pollution every night is normal and clean air is rare? This blog gets thousands of visitors every year. The word is out: North St. Paul is a horrible place to live!
Fresh air is very rare around here. If you are considering moving to North St. Paul or buying a home here, I strongly recommend that you do not do it no matter how good of a price you get. The only way you will be happy in this town is if you love breathing smoky air almost every day. North St. Paul, MN, is a horrible place to live because of the smoky air!
Burning wood, grass, leaves, paper, cardboard, and sometimes plastic, construction materials, and chemicals, if it is combustible it gets burned in North St. Paul and you are going to breathe it.
The air was smoky 25 out of 31 evenings in July 2009. We had 37 hours of continuous wood smoke in the air Aug. 29th - 31st. There was wood smoke in the air 19 consecutive evenings from Aug. 21st to Sept. 8th. It rained heavily on Aug. 20th, providing the only relief we got from wood smoke for almost three weeks.
Is this a good way to live? No. It is a horrible way to live. Take it from someone who knows. Breathing smoky, polluted air every day is misery.
Every day in this city several people are having recreational fires. Every evening the air is filled with the stench of burning wood. I am one person sick and tired of breathing smoky air every day. Is it too much to ask to be able to breathe fresh air in your own home?
Who is responsible for this wood smoke nightmare? The four city council members are responsible. Council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Terry Furlong, and Dave Zick have refused to do anything about this wood smoke problem. They don't care if you have a child with asthma. They don't care if you have to live like a shut-in because the air is so polluted. They don't care if your sinuses burn because the wood smoke is so heavy.
Our four Council members have defended the rights of a small percentage of households to burn wood daily over the rights of all the rest of us to breathe.
You have no right to breathe under Walczak, Bruton, Furlong, and Zick. Burners have the right to burn wood 49 hours a week recreationally. The rest of us have no rights at all.
If you are considering purchasing real estate in the city of North Saint Paul, Minnesota (55109), factor this blog carefully into your decision. Buying a home in this city means that your kids will breathe smoky air while playing in the yard almost every day. Your baby will breathe smoky air in her crib should you leave the windows open around your house. If you leave your windows open you will wake up in the middle of the night choking on smoky air.
Perhaps worst of all, your utility rates will be high because you will have to run the air conditioner instead of leaving the windows open on a cool summer evening. You have no other choice because almost every night the air is too smoky to breathe in this city. Consider this blog your warning.
North St. Paul, Minnesota, is a wonderful community other than the wood smoke. If we could restore fresh air like we used to enjoy, life would be happy again. But that is not going to happen any time soon.
Tell others about this blog!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday 06/29/2010 Air Pollution
North St. Paul is smoky all over the place this evening. Except where we live.....for the time being. I went out looking for smoke this evening and by the time I got back home my clothes reeked of wood smoke. I had to take off my clothes and put them in a plastic bag down by the washing machine. That is how polluted the air is in North St. Paul, MN. You step outside for 15 to 20 minutes and you smell like you spent hours in a smoky bar. That is how city council members Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Dave Zick, and Terry Furlong make us live! After I finish updating this post, I will require a shower before bed.
You don't appreciate fresh air until you have an evil city council that makes you breathe smoky air every day.
4:30 PM: No wood smoke. 72 degrees, sunny, cool, beautiful weather.
5:15 PM: Faint grass smoke for a few minutes. Then it was gone.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet.
8:00 PM: No wood smoke.
9:00 PM: No wood smoke where we live. Wood smoke everywhere else. It did not take long to find smoky, polluted air tonight. Starting from east to west.
1) Light to moderate wood smoke in the area by the parking lot on the eastern edge of Silver Lake at Park Row & 20th Ave. It was faintly smoky all along the south shore of the lake. The wood smoke was strongest here. I could not find the source of the wood smoke. The wood smoke extended from point 1 at least down to Charles and possibly farther. There were people lighting off fireworks in the park in front of the slide at 19th Ave. & Margaret St. so it smelled like gunpowder smoke there.
2) Moderate wood smoke in front of the second house east of Helen St. on the north side of 19th Ave. I've seen a number of bonfires at that house over the past two years. Tonight, they had a small bonfire that produced a lot of smoke. The bonfire was probably not more than 18 inches high, well below the 3-foot limit in North St. Paul's recreational burning ordinance. I could hardly see the fire from Helen Street because it was so small. That one tiny fire smoked up the air on 19th down to Longview a full tenth of a mile away with faint wood smoke. Unfortunately, the smoke seemed to be drifting to the west. City council member Jan Walczak lives a few houses directly north of the house with the bonfire. I did not smell any smoke in front of her house. She doesn't have to breathe the smoky air she supports. If anyone deserves to breathe smoky, polluted air on a cool, beautiful summer evening like this, it is Jan Walczak.
3) Light wood smoke on Helen St. north of Beam Ave. and south of Lydia Ave. There is a frequent burner up here. Every time I am up here the air is smoky. I could not locate the source of the burning. I could not tell if it was coming from the North St. Paul side or the Maplewood side or if it was coming from a house on Helen or further east on Lake Blvd.
4) Light wood smoke at the house on the northeast corner of 19th Ave. & Chippewa Ave. I saw a small cloud of smoke a block away and went down to see wood smoke coming from the back side of the garage. I could not see a fire. I know there is a grass burner down here somewhere. I did not smell any grass tonight.
9:20 PM: No wood smoke where we live. Back home now. I reek of wood smoke. This city is a polluted nightmare.
10:00 PM: No wood smoke where we live. Fresh, cool air!
10:35 PM: Still no wood smoke where we live. 63 degrees.
11:05 PM: The is a very faint trace of some type of smoke in the air. I cannot say it is wood as it is not strong enough to tell. The air is mostly clear but not fresh.
11:30 PM: Very faint trace of some type of smoke continues. Off to bed.
There was a very faint amount of wood smoke in the air after midnight. We did not make it through the night without noticeable wood smoke in the air. We were close.
You don't appreciate fresh air until you have an evil city council that makes you breathe smoky air every day.
4:30 PM: No wood smoke. 72 degrees, sunny, cool, beautiful weather.
5:15 PM: Faint grass smoke for a few minutes. Then it was gone.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet.
8:00 PM: No wood smoke.
9:00 PM: No wood smoke where we live. Wood smoke everywhere else. It did not take long to find smoky, polluted air tonight. Starting from east to west.
1) Light to moderate wood smoke in the area by the parking lot on the eastern edge of Silver Lake at Park Row & 20th Ave. It was faintly smoky all along the south shore of the lake. The wood smoke was strongest here. I could not find the source of the wood smoke. The wood smoke extended from point 1 at least down to Charles and possibly farther. There were people lighting off fireworks in the park in front of the slide at 19th Ave. & Margaret St. so it smelled like gunpowder smoke there.
2) Moderate wood smoke in front of the second house east of Helen St. on the north side of 19th Ave. I've seen a number of bonfires at that house over the past two years. Tonight, they had a small bonfire that produced a lot of smoke. The bonfire was probably not more than 18 inches high, well below the 3-foot limit in North St. Paul's recreational burning ordinance. I could hardly see the fire from Helen Street because it was so small. That one tiny fire smoked up the air on 19th down to Longview a full tenth of a mile away with faint wood smoke. Unfortunately, the smoke seemed to be drifting to the west. City council member Jan Walczak lives a few houses directly north of the house with the bonfire. I did not smell any smoke in front of her house. She doesn't have to breathe the smoky air she supports. If anyone deserves to breathe smoky, polluted air on a cool, beautiful summer evening like this, it is Jan Walczak.
3) Light wood smoke on Helen St. north of Beam Ave. and south of Lydia Ave. There is a frequent burner up here. Every time I am up here the air is smoky. I could not locate the source of the burning. I could not tell if it was coming from the North St. Paul side or the Maplewood side or if it was coming from a house on Helen or further east on Lake Blvd.
4) Light wood smoke at the house on the northeast corner of 19th Ave. & Chippewa Ave. I saw a small cloud of smoke a block away and went down to see wood smoke coming from the back side of the garage. I could not see a fire. I know there is a grass burner down here somewhere. I did not smell any grass tonight.
9:20 PM: No wood smoke where we live. Back home now. I reek of wood smoke. This city is a polluted nightmare.
10:00 PM: No wood smoke where we live. Fresh, cool air!
10:35 PM: Still no wood smoke where we live. 63 degrees.
11:05 PM: The is a very faint trace of some type of smoke in the air. I cannot say it is wood as it is not strong enough to tell. The air is mostly clear but not fresh.
11:30 PM: Very faint trace of some type of smoke continues. Off to bed.
There was a very faint amount of wood smoke in the air after midnight. We did not make it through the night without noticeable wood smoke in the air. We were close.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday 06/28/2010 Air Pollution
We are preparing for a smoky night.
4:55 PM: Faint grass smoke on the breeze. Whoever is burning yard waste is not near us. The smoke lasted a minute or two. 73 degrees, sunny, breezy, and beautiful except for the grass smoke.
5:40 PM: Faint to light wood smoke for a minute or two. Often, grass burners burn a little wood to mask their grass burning. They use legal air pollution to hide their illegal air pollution.
6:10 PM: More faint grass smoke coming in on the wind.
6:30 PM: Intermittent faint grass smoke continues. If all we have tonight is a little faint grass smoke we'll be lucky. 75 degrees and very nice outside with the exception of the grass smoke.
7:00 PM: No smoke.
7:36 PM: Faint grass smoke on the wind again.
7:38 PM: Faint to light grass smoke on the wind. Now it smells like burning grass inside the house. Just what everybody wants. Whoever is burning grass is doing it in small amounts. I wish they would hurry up and get it done so we can enjoy the fresh air before the wood smoke starts.
8:00 PM: No smoke. 72 degrees, sunny, and beautiful.
8:30 PM: Very faint grass smoke coming in on the wind for a few minutes.
8:53 PM: Faint grass smoke for a minute.
9:05 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air. I cannot tell what it is. The air is not fresh.
9:30 PM: No real smoke in the air.
10:50 PM: The air is fresh!
Other than a little grass smoke and some wood smoke for a few minutes which could have been from someone grilling meat, there was not much smoke this evening. We were fortunate. It was a beautiful evening to be outside.
4:55 PM: Faint grass smoke on the breeze. Whoever is burning yard waste is not near us. The smoke lasted a minute or two. 73 degrees, sunny, breezy, and beautiful except for the grass smoke.
5:40 PM: Faint to light wood smoke for a minute or two. Often, grass burners burn a little wood to mask their grass burning. They use legal air pollution to hide their illegal air pollution.
6:10 PM: More faint grass smoke coming in on the wind.
6:30 PM: Intermittent faint grass smoke continues. If all we have tonight is a little faint grass smoke we'll be lucky. 75 degrees and very nice outside with the exception of the grass smoke.
7:00 PM: No smoke.
7:36 PM: Faint grass smoke on the wind again.
7:38 PM: Faint to light grass smoke on the wind. Now it smells like burning grass inside the house. Just what everybody wants. Whoever is burning grass is doing it in small amounts. I wish they would hurry up and get it done so we can enjoy the fresh air before the wood smoke starts.
8:00 PM: No smoke. 72 degrees, sunny, and beautiful.
8:30 PM: Very faint grass smoke coming in on the wind for a few minutes.
8:53 PM: Faint grass smoke for a minute.
9:05 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air. I cannot tell what it is. The air is not fresh.
9:30 PM: No real smoke in the air.
10:50 PM: The air is fresh!
Other than a little grass smoke and some wood smoke for a few minutes which could have been from someone grilling meat, there was not much smoke this evening. We were fortunate. It was a beautiful evening to be outside.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday 06/27/2010 Air Pollution
6:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. 84 degrees, sunny, and beautiful.
8:15 PM: There has been no wood smoke yet to speak of. It is a very nice evening. It is a good evening to be alive. The conditions outside are perfect. Sun, a comfortable temperature of 81 degrees, and a nice breeze. I expect this evening to be ruined by wood smoke. We will see.
9:00 PM: Light wood smoke for about 15 seconds before it was gone. It is windy and the wind changes direction often. Somebody is burning wood. I expect it to get heavier. It is a great evening to be outside.
9:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke coming in on the wind varying in intensity. It is windy outside. I went out and found out who was burning. I HATE THIS CITY! EVERY F****** DAY THE AIR IS SMOKY! CAN'T SIT OUTSIDE! CAN'T OPEN THE WINDOWS! THANKS A LOT CITY COUNCIL. YOU SUCK!
9:30 PM: No smoke for the moment. When the wind changes direction, the smoke comes our way. I would not want to be downwind from the burner.
10:00 PM: No wood smoke coming our way.
10:30 PM: No wood smoke coming this direction.
11:00 PM: No smoke.
11:30 PM: No smoke.
We were a little lucky this evening. Our air was smoky for only few minutes. When the wind came our direction, we got a burst of smoke before the wind changed direction again. It could have been a lot worse. For the people downwind from the burner, it probably was.
8:15 PM: There has been no wood smoke yet to speak of. It is a very nice evening. It is a good evening to be alive. The conditions outside are perfect. Sun, a comfortable temperature of 81 degrees, and a nice breeze. I expect this evening to be ruined by wood smoke. We will see.
9:00 PM: Light wood smoke for about 15 seconds before it was gone. It is windy and the wind changes direction often. Somebody is burning wood. I expect it to get heavier. It is a great evening to be outside.
9:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke coming in on the wind varying in intensity. It is windy outside. I went out and found out who was burning. I HATE THIS CITY! EVERY F****** DAY THE AIR IS SMOKY! CAN'T SIT OUTSIDE! CAN'T OPEN THE WINDOWS! THANKS A LOT CITY COUNCIL. YOU SUCK!
9:30 PM: No smoke for the moment. When the wind changes direction, the smoke comes our way. I would not want to be downwind from the burner.
10:00 PM: No wood smoke coming our way.
10:30 PM: No wood smoke coming this direction.
11:00 PM: No smoke.
11:30 PM: No smoke.
We were a little lucky this evening. Our air was smoky for only few minutes. When the wind came our direction, we got a burst of smoke before the wind changed direction again. It could have been a lot worse. For the people downwind from the burner, it probably was.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday 06/26/2010 Air Pollution
Storms are forecast for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area this evening. Let's hope for another stormy night so we won't have polluted air.
5:50 PM: A very faint smokiness of some type is in the air. I cannot say what it is. 82 degrees, humid, cloudy, storms are heading our way. I checked for grass smoke a few times earlier today. The air conditioning is on so I won't notice any smoke coming in the windows.
6:30 PM: No smoke of any kind in the air.
7:00 PM: No smoke. The air is clear.
8:10 PM: Light wood smoke. Somebody just could not get by without burning some wood today. This city is unbelievable when it comes to the burning of wood. North St. Paul is a city of pyromaniacs. This city is a terrible place to live if you are one of those people who does not like smoky air every day. It is just starting to rain at this time. Hopefully, that will put the burner out of commission for the evening. 80 degrees and muggy.
8:17 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air pollution is getting stronger. The rain was only a brief sprinkle.
8:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is very smoky outside. Off in the distance I can see a huge cloud of smoke above the trees. The cloud of smoke, one worst I have seen yet in this polluted nightmare of a city, looks like it could be a tenth of a mile long or longer.
8:38 PM: Strong wood smoke. It cannot get smokier than this! The cloud of wood smoke drifted down our direction. Our yard is now a smoky cloud. We are saturated in air pollution! The burner may be burning brush, branches, leaves, and other yard wastes. It smells like more than burning wood. The sprinkling of drizzle is making the burning even smokier. With all the windows closed up tight, I can smell the smoke coming in. In the city of North St. Paul, MN, your house has to be sealed up air tight or you are going to get smoke infiltration. North St. Paul is hell on earth!
9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood or brush smoke continues. The air outside reeks something terrible.
9:30 PM: Light smoke continues along with light rain at this time.
10:00 PM: The air is not fresh though most of the smoke has cleared.
11:00 PM: No smoke in the air now. The thunderstorm is going strong.
Would you want to live in a city like this?
5:50 PM: A very faint smokiness of some type is in the air. I cannot say what it is. 82 degrees, humid, cloudy, storms are heading our way. I checked for grass smoke a few times earlier today. The air conditioning is on so I won't notice any smoke coming in the windows.
6:30 PM: No smoke of any kind in the air.
7:00 PM: No smoke. The air is clear.
8:10 PM: Light wood smoke. Somebody just could not get by without burning some wood today. This city is unbelievable when it comes to the burning of wood. North St. Paul is a city of pyromaniacs. This city is a terrible place to live if you are one of those people who does not like smoky air every day. It is just starting to rain at this time. Hopefully, that will put the burner out of commission for the evening. 80 degrees and muggy.
8:17 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The air pollution is getting stronger. The rain was only a brief sprinkle.
8:30 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is very smoky outside. Off in the distance I can see a huge cloud of smoke above the trees. The cloud of smoke, one worst I have seen yet in this polluted nightmare of a city, looks like it could be a tenth of a mile long or longer.
8:38 PM: Strong wood smoke. It cannot get smokier than this! The cloud of wood smoke drifted down our direction. Our yard is now a smoky cloud. We are saturated in air pollution! The burner may be burning brush, branches, leaves, and other yard wastes. It smells like more than burning wood. The sprinkling of drizzle is making the burning even smokier. With all the windows closed up tight, I can smell the smoke coming in. In the city of North St. Paul, MN, your house has to be sealed up air tight or you are going to get smoke infiltration. North St. Paul is hell on earth!
9:00 PM: Light to moderate wood or brush smoke continues. The air outside reeks something terrible.
9:30 PM: Light smoke continues along with light rain at this time.
10:00 PM: The air is not fresh though most of the smoke has cleared.
11:00 PM: No smoke in the air now. The thunderstorm is going strong.
Would you want to live in a city like this?
Friday 06/25/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke this evening. Severe thunderstorms passed through the Twin Cities this evening bringing heavy rain. The temperature at 4:30 PM was 83 degrees with a severe weather alert at this time. Before 6 PM heavy rain was coming down. Spotty rain showers lasted through the late evening hours. Around 8 PM the power went out for a couple of seconds before coming back on. The electricity was out just long enough to require us to reset our clocks.
The weather may have been bad but at least our air was fresh. If not for the rain, this would have been another typical very smoky Friday night. I prefer heavy rain and thunderstorms to heavy wood smoke pollution any day.
The weather may have been bad but at least our air was fresh. If not for the rain, this would have been another typical very smoky Friday night. I prefer heavy rain and thunderstorms to heavy wood smoke pollution any day.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday 06/24/2010 Air Pollution - Forest Fires In Canada
We will have smoky air all day today across the state of Minnesota. There are forest fires in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (Canada) that are bringing wood smoke into the northern plains of the United States. At around 11 AM this morning, I noticed the sky was very hazy where I am in the Twin Cities. I went outside and could smell a very faint trace of smoke. It smelled a little like wood smoke. The haze is smoke from Canadian forest fires.
Living in North St. Paul, MN, we endure far worse wood smoke pollution than this most evenings. The smoke from Canadian forest fires will be a minor nuisance compared with the wood smoke we usually have.
There should be an air quality alert issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency at this time. There is not. If you can see the air pollution or can smell it, you probably should not be breathing it. Exercising in wood smoke haze is ill advised. Small particulate matter from wood smoke pollution will enter your lungs and can enter your blood stream putting additional strain on your cardiovascular system. People with asthma and respiratory disorders may want to stay inside today.
NOAH Smoke Report
The wood smoke pollution in the air should produce a pretty orange-red sunset this evening, according to Chikage Windler at KSTP-TV. By the time the sun sets, bonfires should be going around here adding additional smoke to the air. If the air isn't too smoky to be outside, we will be watching the sky around sunset.
4:15 PM: No local wood or grass smoke at this time. The light wood smoke haze and very faint trace of wood smoke odor from the Canadian wildfires continues. 80 degrees.
7:00 PM: No local wood smoke. The light hazy Canadian forest fire smoke remains in the air.
7:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke coming in on the breeze. Somebody in the distance is burning wood.
8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke coming in on the breeze.
9:15 PM: No wood smoke other than the haze from Canada.
There was no more local wood smoke this evening.
Living in North St. Paul, MN, we endure far worse wood smoke pollution than this most evenings. The smoke from Canadian forest fires will be a minor nuisance compared with the wood smoke we usually have.
There should be an air quality alert issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency at this time. There is not. If you can see the air pollution or can smell it, you probably should not be breathing it. Exercising in wood smoke haze is ill advised. Small particulate matter from wood smoke pollution will enter your lungs and can enter your blood stream putting additional strain on your cardiovascular system. People with asthma and respiratory disorders may want to stay inside today.
NOAH Smoke Report
Central Canada/Extreme N US Great Plains:
The large fires across the northern woods of Saskatchewan (and West Central Manitoba) continue to pour out copious amounts of dense smoke that is moving SE covering nearly all of Saskatchewan and southern half of Manitoba connecting up with the large area of dense smoke from yesterday's output that is currently seen from S Lake Winnepeg over Lake of the Woods in N MN over to Lake Nipigon and nearing Akimiski Island in James Bay. Thin to moderate smoke extends further S into the US nearly covering all of ND, the NE corner of SD and the NW 2/3rds of MN.
The wood smoke pollution in the air should produce a pretty orange-red sunset this evening, according to Chikage Windler at KSTP-TV. By the time the sun sets, bonfires should be going around here adding additional smoke to the air. If the air isn't too smoky to be outside, we will be watching the sky around sunset.
4:15 PM: No local wood or grass smoke at this time. The light wood smoke haze and very faint trace of wood smoke odor from the Canadian wildfires continues. 80 degrees.
7:00 PM: No local wood smoke. The light hazy Canadian forest fire smoke remains in the air.
7:45 PM: Very faint wood smoke coming in on the breeze. Somebody in the distance is burning wood.
8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke coming in on the breeze.
9:15 PM: No wood smoke other than the haze from Canada.
There was no more local wood smoke this evening.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday 06/23/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke this evening. We were fortunate. It rained in the morning and rained heavily in the afternoon. At 5:30 PM, it was sunny with a temperature of 71 degrees. By 6:35 PM it was raining again with a temperature of 72 degrees. The rain must have stopped by 7 PM or shortly after. I was worried someone would start a bonfire but fortunately nobody did. The air was fresh all evening. Around 2 AM the next morning I woke up and opened some windows to cool the house.
Tuesday 06/22/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke this evening. I did not notice any grass smoke when I checked the air quality. It was too warm and muggy for a bonfire. It was 90 degrees at 7:30 PM. When I woke up around 1:30 AM the next morning to check the air outside I was taken back by how warm and humid it still was. Bonfires are not common when the evening temperature is in the upper 80s or higher. Weather conditions played in the favor of all who enjoy clean, unpolluted air. If it was not so hot, the evening air likely would have been smoky as it almost always is.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday 06/21/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood or grass smoke in the air where we live this evening. We get lucky every once in a while. It was 78 degrees and cloudy at 4 PM and sunny later in the evening.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday 06/20/2010 Air Pollution
The nightmare from hell continued well into the morning hours.
12:50 AM: Moderate wood smoke continues. It is still very smoky outside. Breathing air like this for more than a few minutes will make you sick to your stomach.
2:00 AM: Light wood smoke continues. At least it is starting to die down. The windows still cannot be opened. The entire house will reek of wood smoke if they are opened.
2:45 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is getting stronger again. Just what we need at almost 3 AM.
4:30 AM: Light wood smoke. I suspect whoever was burning -- and it was probably one household responsible for the intense wood smoke -- left their bonfire smoldering while they went inside to bed.
5:30 AM: Light wood smoke continues. The air outside reeks! The windows still cannot be opened.
6:10 AM: A brief rain sprinkle for a couple of minutes. I hope it rained on the smoldering bonfire so it finally gets extinguished.
7:00 AM: Faint wood smoke continues.
8:00 AM: The air is mostly clear. It is not fresh air. A very faint lingering smokiness remains. We can finally open the windows!
Hopefully, we can enjoy 10 or 11 hours of fresh air before the wood smoke pollution starts tonight. It is 8:30 AM as I write this. I fully anticipate more smoky air tonight. Sundays tend to be one of the smokiest nights of the week.
5:15 PM: Faint wood smoke. Somebody may be grilling with wood. It did not last long.
9:45 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke. Somebody is burning yard waste. Close windows. Prior to this there was not any smoke except for that around 5:15 PM.
9:30 PM: A very faint trace of grass smoke remains in the air.
10:00 PM: Air is mostly clear. Off to bed.
When I woke around 1:15 AM the air was clear.
12:50 AM: Moderate wood smoke continues. It is still very smoky outside. Breathing air like this for more than a few minutes will make you sick to your stomach.
2:00 AM: Light wood smoke continues. At least it is starting to die down. The windows still cannot be opened. The entire house will reek of wood smoke if they are opened.
2:45 AM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is getting stronger again. Just what we need at almost 3 AM.
4:30 AM: Light wood smoke. I suspect whoever was burning -- and it was probably one household responsible for the intense wood smoke -- left their bonfire smoldering while they went inside to bed.
5:30 AM: Light wood smoke continues. The air outside reeks! The windows still cannot be opened.
6:10 AM: A brief rain sprinkle for a couple of minutes. I hope it rained on the smoldering bonfire so it finally gets extinguished.
7:00 AM: Faint wood smoke continues.
8:00 AM: The air is mostly clear. It is not fresh air. A very faint lingering smokiness remains. We can finally open the windows!
Hopefully, we can enjoy 10 or 11 hours of fresh air before the wood smoke pollution starts tonight. It is 8:30 AM as I write this. I fully anticipate more smoky air tonight. Sundays tend to be one of the smokiest nights of the week.
5:15 PM: Faint wood smoke. Somebody may be grilling with wood. It did not last long.
9:45 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke. Somebody is burning yard waste. Close windows. Prior to this there was not any smoke except for that around 5:15 PM.
9:30 PM: A very faint trace of grass smoke remains in the air.
10:00 PM: Air is mostly clear. Off to bed.
When I woke around 1:15 AM the air was clear.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday 06/19/2010 Air Pollution
2:00 AM: A very faint trace of wood smoke lingers in the air.
5:00 AM: The air is fresh!
9:45 AM: Faint grass smoke coming in the windows. Somebody is burning yard waste. I am not sure who.
10:00 AM: The burning continues. It smells a little like burning paper now.
10:25 AM: Light grass smoke. It is getting more intense. I am still not sure who is burning. It could be someone blocks away.
2:10 PM: Faint grass smoke. It did not last too long.
It was another nightmare from hell evening of wood smoke pollution. Wood smoke lasted well into the morning hours. We are prisoners in our own home! We can't go outside! We can't open our windows! Our only crime is living in this city. North St. Paul is hell on earth!
5:00 PM: Faint smoke from the burning of something. I do not know what is burning. It does not smell like grass, wood, or meat grilling. It did not last too long. Sunny, 74 degrees.
8:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. There will be. Without rain, there almost always is wood smoke in the air every evening. Polluted air and high property taxes are two things you can count on in this town.
9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke at this time. The air is very smoky. The nightmare from hell is beginning.
9:30 PM: Moderate grass and wood smoke. Burning wood and burning yard waste. This is how our city council makes us live. I have been complaining to the city for two years about this horrible wood smoke pollution. The city council refused to address our concerns and sided with the small number of households that smoke up the air we all must breathe.
10:00 PM: Wood and grass smoke pollution continues.
10:30 PM: Faint wood smoke. It died down. Hopefully it is done for the evening.
10:45 PM: Strong wood smoke. This is inhumane! The wood smoke is very heavy. You cannot breathe this air! Just sticking your head out the door leaves you smelling like wood smoke.
Midnight: Moderately strong wood smoke continues.
The air was still faintly smoky at 7 AM. That makes 10 hours of polluted air.
Do you want to live in a city like this? Thanks for this wood smoke pollution nightmare goes to the four city council members -- Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Dave Zick, and Terry Furlong -- who make us breathe toxic polluted air almost every day. I have explained to them that wood smoke contains cancer-causing compounds and soot, ash, and tar. I have explained to them that elderly residents and children with asthma can have serious health problems because of this city's wood smoke pollution problem. I pointed out that many households have to leave their windows closed at night and run their air conditioners on cool summer evenings because the wood smoke is so bad. They did not care. Two years later, they still do not care. Wood smoke is hard on people like us who are healthy. What is it like for a 4-year-old kid with asthma?
Wood smoke is bad for your health and it smells terrible. You might think that for over $2000 a year in property tax you would be entitled to breathe the air on your own property. Not in North St. Paul. Cigarette smoking was banned in bars and restaurants. But somebody a quarter mile away or more can have a large bonfire and smoke up your air so bad you cannot sit outside or open your windows and that is perfectly legal. That is not right.
5:00 AM: The air is fresh!
9:45 AM: Faint grass smoke coming in the windows. Somebody is burning yard waste. I am not sure who.
10:00 AM: The burning continues. It smells a little like burning paper now.
10:25 AM: Light grass smoke. It is getting more intense. I am still not sure who is burning. It could be someone blocks away.
2:10 PM: Faint grass smoke. It did not last too long.
It was another nightmare from hell evening of wood smoke pollution. Wood smoke lasted well into the morning hours. We are prisoners in our own home! We can't go outside! We can't open our windows! Our only crime is living in this city. North St. Paul is hell on earth!
5:00 PM: Faint smoke from the burning of something. I do not know what is burning. It does not smell like grass, wood, or meat grilling. It did not last too long. Sunny, 74 degrees.
8:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. There will be. Without rain, there almost always is wood smoke in the air every evening. Polluted air and high property taxes are two things you can count on in this town.
9:00 PM: Moderate wood smoke at this time. The air is very smoky. The nightmare from hell is beginning.
9:30 PM: Moderate grass and wood smoke. Burning wood and burning yard waste. This is how our city council makes us live. I have been complaining to the city for two years about this horrible wood smoke pollution. The city council refused to address our concerns and sided with the small number of households that smoke up the air we all must breathe.
10:00 PM: Wood and grass smoke pollution continues.
10:30 PM: Faint wood smoke. It died down. Hopefully it is done for the evening.
10:45 PM: Strong wood smoke. This is inhumane! The wood smoke is very heavy. You cannot breathe this air! Just sticking your head out the door leaves you smelling like wood smoke.
Midnight: Moderately strong wood smoke continues.
The air was still faintly smoky at 7 AM. That makes 10 hours of polluted air.
Do you want to live in a city like this? Thanks for this wood smoke pollution nightmare goes to the four city council members -- Jan Walczak, Bob Bruton, Dave Zick, and Terry Furlong -- who make us breathe toxic polluted air almost every day. I have explained to them that wood smoke contains cancer-causing compounds and soot, ash, and tar. I have explained to them that elderly residents and children with asthma can have serious health problems because of this city's wood smoke pollution problem. I pointed out that many households have to leave their windows closed at night and run their air conditioners on cool summer evenings because the wood smoke is so bad. They did not care. Two years later, they still do not care. Wood smoke is hard on people like us who are healthy. What is it like for a 4-year-old kid with asthma?
Wood smoke is bad for your health and it smells terrible. You might think that for over $2000 a year in property tax you would be entitled to breathe the air on your own property. Not in North St. Paul. Cigarette smoking was banned in bars and restaurants. But somebody a quarter mile away or more can have a large bonfire and smoke up your air so bad you cannot sit outside or open your windows and that is perfectly legal. That is not right.
Friday 06/18/2010 Air Pollution
It is another smoky hell of an evening in the city of North St. Paul, MN.
5:00 PM: No wood smoke. 85 degrees and sunny. A very nice start to an evening certain to be miserably smoky.
9:10 PM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time. There was no wood smoke prior to this.
9:50 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside. You do not want to breathe this air. You cannot stand to sit in wood smoke like this for long and you cannot have your windows open or your house will reek of wood smoke.
10:20 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.
11:20 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time.
11:55 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. It has gotten stronger since the last check. Off to bed.
I woke for the first time around 2 AM at which time there was only a very faint trace of wood smoke in the air.
5:00 PM: No wood smoke. 85 degrees and sunny. A very nice start to an evening certain to be miserably smoky.
9:10 PM: Very faint wood smoke is in the air at this time. There was no wood smoke prior to this.
9:50 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside. You do not want to breathe this air. You cannot stand to sit in wood smoke like this for long and you cannot have your windows open or your house will reek of wood smoke.
10:20 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.
11:20 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time.
11:55 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. It has gotten stronger since the last check. Off to bed.
I woke for the first time around 2 AM at which time there was only a very faint trace of wood smoke in the air.
Thursday 06/17/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke this evening. There was a severe storm moving in. The Twin Cities was mostly missed though sadly, there were three fatalities from tornadoes elsewhere in the state of Minnesota. There was not much rain in North St. Paul. It was 88 degrees at 5 PM and very windy. Strong winds continued all evening. Any bonfires would have sent embers far and wide.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday 06/16/2010 Air Pollution
Wood smoke is back this evening.
4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Nice, 78 degrees.
7:00 PM: Light wood smoke. The air is smoky from burning wood once again.
8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.
9:00 PM: A very faint smokiness remains in the air. The air smells odd now like there are fumes from a charcoal grill or something in the air but it isn't a charcoal grill. I do not know what it is.
10:30: The fumy smell in the air continues along with a very faint trace of wood smoke.
11:50 PM: A very faint trace of smoke remains in the air.
4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Nice, 78 degrees.
7:00 PM: Light wood smoke. The air is smoky from burning wood once again.
8:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.
9:00 PM: A very faint smokiness remains in the air. The air smells odd now like there are fumes from a charcoal grill or something in the air but it isn't a charcoal grill. I do not know what it is.
10:30: The fumy smell in the air continues along with a very faint trace of wood smoke.
11:50 PM: A very faint trace of smoke remains in the air.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday 06/15/2010 Air Pollution
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. 74 degrees, sunny. The day started out cloudy and wet but got nicer as it went on. It will be a nice evening until the wood smoke starts.
We expect tonight to be another smoky hell of an evening with most kids out of school for the summer and the unfavorable weather conditions this past weekend which put a damper on bonfires. The only time it isn't smoky in North St. Paul in the summer is when it is raining. Look at the wood smoke by month figures. For June 2009, we enjoyed only eight evenings with no wood smoke and no rain the entire month.
I got a couple visitors today who were searching for Silver Lake Market, the little convenience store on 17th Ave. between Margaret and Charles streets. If I knew people were searching for it, I would have mentioned it earlier. I have some pictures I have taken around the city including a few of the store. I will find them and put them on this blog soon.
9:00 PM: No real wood smoke. There is a very faint trace of some type of smokiness in the air. It could be from a distant grill, lawnmower, or a bonfire. It doesn't smell like wood smoke so I cannot call it wood smoke.
10:00 PM: Still no wood smoke.
11:45 PM: No wood smoke.
This evening was free of wood smoke pollution. I thought the air would be smoky. I am pleasantly surprised it was not.
We expect tonight to be another smoky hell of an evening with most kids out of school for the summer and the unfavorable weather conditions this past weekend which put a damper on bonfires. The only time it isn't smoky in North St. Paul in the summer is when it is raining. Look at the wood smoke by month figures. For June 2009, we enjoyed only eight evenings with no wood smoke and no rain the entire month.
I got a couple visitors today who were searching for Silver Lake Market, the little convenience store on 17th Ave. between Margaret and Charles streets. If I knew people were searching for it, I would have mentioned it earlier. I have some pictures I have taken around the city including a few of the store. I will find them and put them on this blog soon.
9:00 PM: No real wood smoke. There is a very faint trace of some type of smokiness in the air. It could be from a distant grill, lawnmower, or a bonfire. It doesn't smell like wood smoke so I cannot call it wood smoke.
10:00 PM: Still no wood smoke.
11:45 PM: No wood smoke.
This evening was free of wood smoke pollution. I thought the air would be smoky. I am pleasantly surprised it was not.
Monday 06/15/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke this evening. We were thankful for the unpolluted air. It rained earlier in the day. It was cloudy and wet. I went to bed early and when I woke the ground was all wet. When I woke again after midnight I opened some windows. We do not sleep with the windows open too often because the air is so polluted with wood smoke in this town. While the cool breeze flowing through the house felt nice, it was difficult for me to get back to sleep. I am no longer accustomed to the noise from the freeway. We live a distance from Interstate 694. I could hear the noise from the tires and truck engines as clearly as if I was standing next to the freeway. I am also no longer accustomed to the sound of birds chirping at 3:45 AM. Back in the late 1990s, we left the windows open around the house every night. We have not been able to do that for years because of the horrific wood smoke pollution in North St. Paul.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday 06/14/2010 Air Pollution
The air was smoky yet another evening. It always is. I went out this evening and found wood smoke in a number of places. I never have trouble finding wood smoke when I search for it.
5:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. I was not sure where it was coming from until I went out looking for it. It was the usual suspect. He smoked up the air for over three hours tonight. That's not much for him. Usually, he smokes up the air for 3 - 6 hours at a time.
6:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke. 65 degrees and cloudy at this time.
7:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The wind shifted direction bringing the smoke at us.
7:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.
9:30 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke. Just a little bit still in the air.
10:30 PM: No real wood smoke in the air. The air is not fresh. We will take it.
11:30 PM: No wood smoke.
When I woke up after midnight the air was clear.
I mentioned that I went out looking for wood smoke tonight. I found wood smoke in the following places:
This was the smokiest evening of the weekend. It was not that bad. But, wood smoke was in the air this evening as it is almost every evening. We hardly get a break from it. Do you want to smell wood smoke inside your home every day? We don't.
5:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. I was not sure where it was coming from until I went out looking for it. It was the usual suspect. He smoked up the air for over three hours tonight. That's not much for him. Usually, he smokes up the air for 3 - 6 hours at a time.
6:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke. 65 degrees and cloudy at this time.
7:15 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. The wind shifted direction bringing the smoke at us.
7:30 PM: Faint wood smoke.
9:30 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke. Just a little bit still in the air.
10:30 PM: No real wood smoke in the air. The air is not fresh. We will take it.
11:30 PM: No wood smoke.
When I woke up after midnight the air was clear.
I mentioned that I went out looking for wood smoke tonight. I found wood smoke in the following places:
- On Chippewa between 19th & Shawnee
- Faint wood smoke on Helen south of Lydia
- On Poplar between Helen & Lake
- Very faint wood smoke on the southern edge of Silver Lake
- Smoky where we live
This was the smokiest evening of the weekend. It was not that bad. But, wood smoke was in the air this evening as it is almost every evening. We hardly get a break from it. Do you want to smell wood smoke inside your home every day? We don't.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
North High School graduation fight video
I saw a search for the video of the fight at the North High School graduation ceremony at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood earlier this week. It was mentioned in a Pioneer Press article.
I found the video of the altercation on Youtube. You must sign in and verify your age to watch it for some unknown reason.
North High School Graduation Fight 2010
I found the video of the altercation on Youtube. You must sign in and verify your age to watch it for some unknown reason.
North High School Graduation Fight 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Saturday 06/12/2010 Air Pollution
It was a dreary, rainy day. It is also a little smoky this evening.
5:10 PM: No wood smoke. 61 degrees, cloudy. We had some drizzling rain earlier today.
9:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. Will we get lucky and have fresh air all evening? Everything is wet. It looks like it recently rained a little more. 62 degrees.
9:50 PM: Still no wood smoke.
10:55 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. Wouldn't you know, the air is smoky. I thought we could make it through the night without any wood smoke with the rain and uncooperative weather. No such luck in North St. Paul. If the air isn't smoky, it's a miracle. Tonight's wood smoke could be a bonfire or a fireplace. A fireplace in June? Somebody is always burning something in this town. If they aren't burning it outside, you will often find them burning inside.
11:55 PM: Light wood smoke. 62 degrees. With the temperature like this, we would in a normal city leave the windows open a little all night. Not around here. You never know how strong the wood smoke is going to get. Waking up in the middle of the night to a house that reeks of wood smoke is no fun. But if you want to live in North St. Paul and want to leave your windows open, you better get used to it.
5:10 PM: No wood smoke. 61 degrees, cloudy. We had some drizzling rain earlier today.
9:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. Will we get lucky and have fresh air all evening? Everything is wet. It looks like it recently rained a little more. 62 degrees.
9:50 PM: Still no wood smoke.
10:55 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. Wouldn't you know, the air is smoky. I thought we could make it through the night without any wood smoke with the rain and uncooperative weather. No such luck in North St. Paul. If the air isn't smoky, it's a miracle. Tonight's wood smoke could be a bonfire or a fireplace. A fireplace in June? Somebody is always burning something in this town. If they aren't burning it outside, you will often find them burning inside.
11:55 PM: Light wood smoke. 62 degrees. With the temperature like this, we would in a normal city leave the windows open a little all night. Not around here. You never know how strong the wood smoke is going to get. Waking up in the middle of the night to a house that reeks of wood smoke is no fun. But if you want to live in North St. Paul and want to leave your windows open, you better get used to it.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Friday 06/11/2010 Air Pollution
5:30 PM: No wood smoke yet. Cloudy, 70 degrees at this time. A thunderstorm rolled in around 3 AM this morning. It rained in the Twin Cities until mid morning. Will the air be smoky tonight? Probably. If it isn't raining, the air will be smoky. Kids are out of school and graduation parties will be happening. We will be prisoners in our own home again. Last Friday was the smokiest of the year. It was a miserable night with heavy wood smoke that lasted well past midnight with a power outage. We had no electricity and with all the windows closed, wood smoke was coming in. Even with the current cloudy skies and cool temperature, I expect tonight to be smoky as well. The weather forecast calls for the chance of isolated thunderstorms late tonight and early Saturday morning. All I can do is hope it starts raining around 8 PM. The rain is the only thing that can save us from heavy wood smoke pollution.
7:30 PM: No smoke yet.
8:30 PM: Faint grass smoke. This is the third evening in a row somebody has burned grass between 7:30 and 8:30 PM. With the grass smoke as faint as it is, the burner is burning a small amount or is far away. Cloudy, 65 degrees, looks like it may rain at any time.
We are prepared for a brutal night of smoky air in North St. Paul, MN. As soon as we smell it coming in, all the windows are getting closed.
9:05 PM: Very faint wood smoke. It did not last too long.
10:20 PM: No real smoke outside. There is something in the air. It isn't enough to force us to close the windows.
There was no wood smoke strong enough to require the windows to be closed this evening. We were fortunate.
7:30 PM: No smoke yet.
8:30 PM: Faint grass smoke. This is the third evening in a row somebody has burned grass between 7:30 and 8:30 PM. With the grass smoke as faint as it is, the burner is burning a small amount or is far away. Cloudy, 65 degrees, looks like it may rain at any time.
We are prepared for a brutal night of smoky air in North St. Paul, MN. As soon as we smell it coming in, all the windows are getting closed.
9:05 PM: Very faint wood smoke. It did not last too long.
10:20 PM: No real smoke outside. There is something in the air. It isn't enough to force us to close the windows.
There was no wood smoke strong enough to require the windows to be closed this evening. We were fortunate.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Thursday 06/10/2010 Air Pollution
12:35 AM: Light wood smoke continues. Cannot open windows. We did enjoy three evenings in a row without wood smoke pollution. That is about all you can hope for in North St. Paul, Minnesota. 60 degrees at this time.
2:00 AM: Faint to light wood smoke continues.
4:00 AM: A faint wood smokiness lingers in the air.
6:00 AM: Fresh air!
6:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. Cloudy, cool, 65 degrees measured at North High School. It was supposed to rain today. Most of it missed us. We had a couple spots with a few drops of rain. Not much. Will tonight be another smoky hell? Schools are letting out for the summer. It only gets worse from here.
7:38 PM: Faint grass smoke coming in the window. Whoever is burning grass, I cannot determine their direction because the wind is shifting directions every few seconds. The grass smoke did not last more than a couple of minutes. Yesterday, the grass smoke started faintly, disappeared, then got pretty strong. I hope the same does not happen tonight. Cloudy, a little windy at this time.
8:05 PM: A very faint trace of something is in the air.
8:35 PM: Very faint grass smoke.
9:00: No smoke.
9:45 PM: A very faint smokiness of some type is in the air. It smells like wood smoke.
10:30 PM: No wood smoke.
11:15 PM: No wood smoke. Off to bed.
11:55 PM: No wood smoke.
We had a little smoke from burning grass this evening. But no real wood smoke. I cannot complain too much. Around 3 AM, a thunderstorm moved into the area. I felt it was safe to open the bedroom windows at that time.
2:00 AM: Faint to light wood smoke continues.
4:00 AM: A faint wood smokiness lingers in the air.
6:00 AM: Fresh air!
6:15 PM: No wood smoke yet. Cloudy, cool, 65 degrees measured at North High School. It was supposed to rain today. Most of it missed us. We had a couple spots with a few drops of rain. Not much. Will tonight be another smoky hell? Schools are letting out for the summer. It only gets worse from here.
7:38 PM: Faint grass smoke coming in the window. Whoever is burning grass, I cannot determine their direction because the wind is shifting directions every few seconds. The grass smoke did not last more than a couple of minutes. Yesterday, the grass smoke started faintly, disappeared, then got pretty strong. I hope the same does not happen tonight. Cloudy, a little windy at this time.
8:05 PM: A very faint trace of something is in the air.
8:35 PM: Very faint grass smoke.
9:00: No smoke.
9:45 PM: A very faint smokiness of some type is in the air. It smells like wood smoke.
10:30 PM: No wood smoke.
11:15 PM: No wood smoke. Off to bed.
11:55 PM: No wood smoke.
We had a little smoke from burning grass this evening. But no real wood smoke. I cannot complain too much. Around 3 AM, a thunderstorm moved into the area. I felt it was safe to open the bedroom windows at that time.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Wednesday 06/09/2010 Air Pollution
6:30 PM: No wood smoke yet. It is a nice and cool evening. 71 degrees and sunny with some clouds.
8:20 PM: Very faint grass smoke. I smelled it coming in the window. I went outside and did not smell it.
8:30 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke. I knew I smelled burning grass earlier. I would prefer the burning of grass to be legal and the burning of wood to be illegal. Close all the windows.
8:40 PM: Moderate grass smoke. The yard waste burner cannot be far away. I am not sure of the direction. The wind seems to be changing directions in the backyard. I've smelled grass smoke more than a half mile from its source. It can travel quite a distance. If all that is burned tonight is some grass, we will be fortunate. 67 degrees and a nice evening except for the grass smoke.
8:45 PM: Moderate grass smoke continues.
9:00 PM: Moderately strong wood smoke now. It is very smoky outside. I hate this city and the city council that forces us to breathe smoky, polluted air.
9:15 PM: Light wood smoke. My hunch is that the person who was burning grass also burned wood to hide what he was doing.
9:30 PM: Light wood smoke continues.
9:45 PM: The air is mostly clear.
10:15 PM: Light wood smoke. It did not go away.
10:35 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.
10:50 PM: Very faint wood smoke.
11:05 PM: Light wood smoke.
11:40 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.
Smoky air continues past midnight.
8:20 PM: Very faint grass smoke. I smelled it coming in the window. I went outside and did not smell it.
8:30 PM: Light to moderate grass smoke. I knew I smelled burning grass earlier. I would prefer the burning of grass to be legal and the burning of wood to be illegal. Close all the windows.
8:40 PM: Moderate grass smoke. The yard waste burner cannot be far away. I am not sure of the direction. The wind seems to be changing directions in the backyard. I've smelled grass smoke more than a half mile from its source. It can travel quite a distance. If all that is burned tonight is some grass, we will be fortunate. 67 degrees and a nice evening except for the grass smoke.
8:45 PM: Moderate grass smoke continues.
9:00 PM: Moderately strong wood smoke now. It is very smoky outside. I hate this city and the city council that forces us to breathe smoky, polluted air.
9:15 PM: Light wood smoke. My hunch is that the person who was burning grass also burned wood to hide what he was doing.
9:30 PM: Light wood smoke continues.
9:45 PM: The air is mostly clear.
10:15 PM: Light wood smoke. It did not go away.
10:35 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.
10:50 PM: Very faint wood smoke.
11:05 PM: Light wood smoke.
11:40 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke continues.
Smoky air continues past midnight.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Tuesday 06/08/2010 Air Pollution
4:30 PM: No wood smoke. Drizzling rain at this time. It rained most of the day. I am hopeful we will have our third evening in a row without wood smoke pollution because of the rain. 68 degrees.
6:30 PM: No wood smoke. The rain has stopped. The ground is all wet. The sky continues to be cloudy. Will the damp ground discourage bonfire burners?
There was no wood smoke this evening. We were blessed to have our third evening in a row without wood smoke pollution. Normally this time of year, the air is smoky almost every evening. Schools are starting summer break. It will get worse soon.
6:30 PM: No wood smoke. The rain has stopped. The ground is all wet. The sky continues to be cloudy. Will the damp ground discourage bonfire burners?
There was no wood smoke this evening. We were blessed to have our third evening in a row without wood smoke pollution. Normally this time of year, the air is smoky almost every evening. Schools are starting summer break. It will get worse soon.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Monday 06/07/2010 Air Pollution
4:10 PM: No wood smoke. 78 degrees, partly sunny. It has been a pretty nice day so far. There is a chance of rain this evening. I sure hope it rains. Rain provides the only guarantee of fresh air in this town. Anybody can start burning at any time. Air polluters have all the rights. We have none.
6:00 PM: No wood smoke. Mostly cloudy.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke.
8:15 PM: No real smoke. There is a very faint trace of something in the air.
9:30 PM: No wood smoke. Will we have our second evening of fresh air in a row? 70 degrees.
There was no wood smoke this evening. It was a wonderful evening of mostly fresh air.
6:00 PM: No wood smoke. Mostly cloudy.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke.
8:15 PM: No real smoke. There is a very faint trace of something in the air.
9:30 PM: No wood smoke. Will we have our second evening of fresh air in a row? 70 degrees.
There was no wood smoke this evening. It was a wonderful evening of mostly fresh air.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
About Me & Contacting Me
Thank you for visiting my blog about North Saint Paul, Minnesota. I have been documenting the horrible air pollution problem in this city for over two years now. I started this blog to create a public document about the conditions we endure as residents of this town.
As you can see, we have a terrible wood smoke problem in North St. Paul that our city council has refused to address. Even though most households do not burn wood recreationally, our four city council members have sided with the small percentage of households that choose to pollute the air that all the rest of us -- including children and many long-time elderly residents -- have to breathe. One small bonfire can smoke up an entire neighborhood, creating a nuisance and health hazard for hundreds or perhaps thousands of people. According to city ordinance, wood burners have the right to burn for recreational purposes from 4 PM to 11 PM all seven days of the week. You and I have no right to breathe at all. This is not right.
North St. Paul was a nice place to live with almost no wood smoke in the late 1990s. It is hell on earth now. It is not solely the area I live in that is smoky. Wood smoke is a problem across the entire city. From time to time, I venture into other neighborhoods looking for wood smoke. If the weather is nice, I never have a problem finding it. All I do is follow my nose. Many times, I have tracked wood smoke up to a half mile to its source from where I originally smelled it.
If you are a resident of North St. Paul, MN, or live elsewhere and are concerned about wood smoke pollution, please feel free to contact me at the email address below.
My email address: northsaintpaulresident@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
As you can see, we have a terrible wood smoke problem in North St. Paul that our city council has refused to address. Even though most households do not burn wood recreationally, our four city council members have sided with the small percentage of households that choose to pollute the air that all the rest of us -- including children and many long-time elderly residents -- have to breathe. One small bonfire can smoke up an entire neighborhood, creating a nuisance and health hazard for hundreds or perhaps thousands of people. According to city ordinance, wood burners have the right to burn for recreational purposes from 4 PM to 11 PM all seven days of the week. You and I have no right to breathe at all. This is not right.
North St. Paul was a nice place to live with almost no wood smoke in the late 1990s. It is hell on earth now. It is not solely the area I live in that is smoky. Wood smoke is a problem across the entire city. From time to time, I venture into other neighborhoods looking for wood smoke. If the weather is nice, I never have a problem finding it. All I do is follow my nose. Many times, I have tracked wood smoke up to a half mile to its source from where I originally smelled it.
If you are a resident of North St. Paul, MN, or live elsewhere and are concerned about wood smoke pollution, please feel free to contact me at the email address below.
My email address: northsaintpaulresident@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sunday 06/06/2010 Air Pollution
12:25 AM: Moderately strong wood smoke continues. The air outside is very smoky. This will be another night we have to go to bed with the windows closed because the air is so polluted. Truth be told, we have to go to bed every night with the windows closed. Late night burning happens often in this town. It is very common for wood smoke to start in the early evening and continue until 3 or 4 AM, sometimes later. You never know who will start a bonfire at 1 AM. There is nothing worse than waking up at 1 AM choking on smoky air in the middle of the work week. Once the wood smoke gets inside the house, there is no getting rid of it. You are stuck breathing smoky, polluted air inside the house all night long. The wood smoke gets into your clothes, bedding, and any other fabric making the odor linger for a long time.
6:00 AM: Fresh air! Thank God! We can finally open the windows and enjoy the cool, unpolluted air. Maybe we will get 12 more hours of uninterrupted fresh air today with the exception of grass burners.
2:10 PM: A few drops of rain just fell. The sky is mostly cloudy. The weather forecast calls for a chance of spotty rain showers. Let's hope it rains so we can get some relief from this terrible wood smoke pollution in North St. Paul. After the heavy wood smoke of the past two nights, we could use a break. 76 degrees.
2:18 PM: Faint grass smoke. Right after I published the first draft of this post grass smoke started coming in the window. It did not last more than a few minutes. Somebody is always burning something in this town.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. It is an absolutely gorgeous evening likely to be ruined by wood smoke. Last Sunday, there was no real wood smoke in the air other than a little grass or wood smoke around 7 PM. We were lucky then. It rained a little and there was some thunder. Sundays tend to be one of the smokiest days of the week. We are going to sit outside for a while and enjoy the evening. It rained earlier around 3:30 PM. The clouds cleared out before 5 PM. Cool and sunny at this time, 70 degrees.
8:30 PM: No wood smoke.
9:00 PM: A very faint wood smoke is coming in on the breeze out of the east. It did not last long.
10:00 PM: Still no wood smoke.
11:00 PM: No wood smoke.
Midnight: No wood smoke.
We made it an entire evening without wood smoke pollution! We had a little grass smoke earlier in the afternoon and a trace of wood smoke around 9 PM which did not last more than a few minutes. After the prior two smoky nights, we deserve this breathable air. You will not realize the importance of fresh, unpolluted air until you spend some time in North St. Paul.
6:00 AM: Fresh air! Thank God! We can finally open the windows and enjoy the cool, unpolluted air. Maybe we will get 12 more hours of uninterrupted fresh air today with the exception of grass burners.
2:10 PM: A few drops of rain just fell. The sky is mostly cloudy. The weather forecast calls for a chance of spotty rain showers. Let's hope it rains so we can get some relief from this terrible wood smoke pollution in North St. Paul. After the heavy wood smoke of the past two nights, we could use a break. 76 degrees.
2:18 PM: Faint grass smoke. Right after I published the first draft of this post grass smoke started coming in the window. It did not last more than a few minutes. Somebody is always burning something in this town.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. It is an absolutely gorgeous evening likely to be ruined by wood smoke. Last Sunday, there was no real wood smoke in the air other than a little grass or wood smoke around 7 PM. We were lucky then. It rained a little and there was some thunder. Sundays tend to be one of the smokiest days of the week. We are going to sit outside for a while and enjoy the evening. It rained earlier around 3:30 PM. The clouds cleared out before 5 PM. Cool and sunny at this time, 70 degrees.
8:30 PM: No wood smoke.
9:00 PM: A very faint wood smoke is coming in on the breeze out of the east. It did not last long.
10:00 PM: Still no wood smoke.
11:00 PM: No wood smoke.
Midnight: No wood smoke.
We made it an entire evening without wood smoke pollution! We had a little grass smoke earlier in the afternoon and a trace of wood smoke around 9 PM which did not last more than a few minutes. After the prior two smoky nights, we deserve this breathable air. You will not realize the importance of fresh, unpolluted air until you spend some time in North St. Paul.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Saturday 06/05/2010 Air Pollution
We are prisoners trapped in a smoky hell called North St. Paul!
12:40 AM: Power outage. Just great! The air is still very smoky outside! We cannot open the windows! Now we are without electricity. That means no air conditioning. No fans. Nothing but warm, stuffy, sweaty darkness. Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. The air outside is still really smoky. You don't want this polluted air in your bedroom.
Thank you very much, North St. Paul. You made a typical nightmare evening in this hellish town all that much worse.
2:05 AM: Moderate wood smoke continues. The air outside is still very smoky. The air reeks. You will get sick to your stomach if you breathe this toxic, polluted air for more than a few minutes. The power is still out! When will this torture end?
3:06 AM: The electricity is back on! Finally, we can get the air conditioning running again. It is cool outside. The temperature must be in the mid 60s. But we still cannot open the windows because of the smoky air. Light to moderate wood smoke at this time.
10:30 AM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. Thank you, North St. Paul. Since I did not get to sleep until well after 3 AM, my whole morning is gone. After last night's marathon wood smoke pollution, it is not very nice to wake up and find wood smoke still in the air! Whoever was burning last night, and it was probably more than one household, left their wood to smolder all night.
12:30 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues. I can smell it without any difficulty. It isn't much, and isn't enough to discourage me from having the windows open, but the air is unpleasant and unclean. A brief sprinkle of rain fell prior to this time. Drizzling rain continues. 71 degrees, cloudy, and I hope it rains tonight. I don't know if we can handle another night like last night.
Do you want to live in a city like this?
It rained most of the afternoon. The rain stopped around 5 PM. It is cool and damp. Will we get a break from the wood smoke tonight?
6:00 PM: No wood smoke. Sunny at this time. Around 62 degrees.
7:50 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smokiness is in the air. It could be a grill or a bonfire.
8:30 PM: No smoke in the air.
9:05 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It isn't enough to require the windows to be closed. But I can smell it when I step outside.
9:20 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke continues.
9:33 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is very smoky outside! I was hoping we would catch a break from the wood smoke tonight after last night's intense air pollution. No such luck. There rarely is in North St. Paul. I hate this city. I wish I never lived here. This town is a nightmare! 62 degrees.
10:25 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It varies in intensity with the breeze.
11:00 PM: Light wood smoke.
11:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.
11:50 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It's very smoky outside. As it was yesterday, we can smell wood smoke coming in with all the windows and doors closed! These houses in this area are 40 years old. There are bound to be hairline gaps and cracks where air infiltration can occur. I can smell wood smoke coming in around our windows and a spot in the basement foundation.
Tonight's onslaught of wood smoke pollution continued after midnight. According to city ordinance, recreational burning is supposed to cease at 11 PM. It never does and the city makes no effort to enforce it. But, do you want to breathe smoky air at 7 PM any more than you do at midnight or 3 AM? I don't. Smoky, polluted air is a nuisance and public health hazard no matter the time of day. Smoky, polluted air is a way of life in North St. Paul because of our four city council members who do not care about our health and wellbeing.
12:40 AM: Power outage. Just great! The air is still very smoky outside! We cannot open the windows! Now we are without electricity. That means no air conditioning. No fans. Nothing but warm, stuffy, sweaty darkness. Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. The air outside is still really smoky. You don't want this polluted air in your bedroom.
Thank you very much, North St. Paul. You made a typical nightmare evening in this hellish town all that much worse.
2:05 AM: Moderate wood smoke continues. The air outside is still very smoky. The air reeks. You will get sick to your stomach if you breathe this toxic, polluted air for more than a few minutes. The power is still out! When will this torture end?
3:06 AM: The electricity is back on! Finally, we can get the air conditioning running again. It is cool outside. The temperature must be in the mid 60s. But we still cannot open the windows because of the smoky air. Light to moderate wood smoke at this time.
10:30 AM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. Thank you, North St. Paul. Since I did not get to sleep until well after 3 AM, my whole morning is gone. After last night's marathon wood smoke pollution, it is not very nice to wake up and find wood smoke still in the air! Whoever was burning last night, and it was probably more than one household, left their wood to smolder all night.
12:30 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke continues. I can smell it without any difficulty. It isn't much, and isn't enough to discourage me from having the windows open, but the air is unpleasant and unclean. A brief sprinkle of rain fell prior to this time. Drizzling rain continues. 71 degrees, cloudy, and I hope it rains tonight. I don't know if we can handle another night like last night.
Do you want to live in a city like this?
It rained most of the afternoon. The rain stopped around 5 PM. It is cool and damp. Will we get a break from the wood smoke tonight?
6:00 PM: No wood smoke. Sunny at this time. Around 62 degrees.
7:50 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smokiness is in the air. It could be a grill or a bonfire.
8:30 PM: No smoke in the air.
9:05 PM: A very faint trace of wood smoke is in the air. It isn't enough to require the windows to be closed. But I can smell it when I step outside.
9:20 PM: Very faint trace of wood smoke continues.
9:33 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It is very smoky outside! I was hoping we would catch a break from the wood smoke tonight after last night's intense air pollution. No such luck. There rarely is in North St. Paul. I hate this city. I wish I never lived here. This town is a nightmare! 62 degrees.
10:25 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It varies in intensity with the breeze.
11:00 PM: Light wood smoke.
11:30 PM: Faint to light wood smoke.
11:50 PM: Moderate wood smoke. It's very smoky outside. As it was yesterday, we can smell wood smoke coming in with all the windows and doors closed! These houses in this area are 40 years old. There are bound to be hairline gaps and cracks where air infiltration can occur. I can smell wood smoke coming in around our windows and a spot in the basement foundation.
Tonight's onslaught of wood smoke pollution continued after midnight. According to city ordinance, recreational burning is supposed to cease at 11 PM. It never does and the city makes no effort to enforce it. But, do you want to breathe smoky air at 7 PM any more than you do at midnight or 3 AM? I don't. Smoky, polluted air is a nuisance and public health hazard no matter the time of day. Smoky, polluted air is a way of life in North St. Paul because of our four city council members who do not care about our health and wellbeing.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Friday 06/04/2010 Air Pollution
I see visitors are finding this blog by searching for "Crazy Days". It was renamed "Slice of Summer". I wanted to mention it so more people will find this blog.
The wood smoke has started early this Friday evening. As always when the weather is nice, this is going to be another smoky hell of an evening in North St. Paul, MN.
4:20 PM: No wood smoke. 82 degrees, sunny, beautiful.
6:00 PM: No wood smoke.
7:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. First the lighter fluid, then the wood smoke. I went out and found the culprit. It's the same household that burns between this time several times a week. They took a break for a week or two, but the break is over. A huge cloud of smoke of wood smoke is coming from their yard right now. They live about 500 feet from city council member Jan Walczak. I hope she can smell the wood smoke. She loves smoky air. 83 degrees at this time and getting smokier.
This turned out to be one of the smokiest nights in a long time.
8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
8:12 PM: Light wood smoke.
8:55 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside.
9:10 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Now it is very smoky outside. The intensity of the wood smoke increased in 15 minutes.
10:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. The poisonous North St. Paul air is decreasing in toxicity.
10:15 PM: Faint wood smoke. We are heading in the right direction, thank God!
11:20 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. It is extremely smoky outside right now. It is so smoky, I can smell wood smoke coming in with all the windows and doors closed up tight.
11:45 PM: Strong wood smoke! The wood smoke is so heavy it cannot get much stronger! This air is not fit for human consumption. Just sticking my head out the door for a few seconds left me smelling like wood smoke. I have to bathe and change clothes before bed. We again are tortured by our city council all of whom support this wood smoke pollution.
To make matters much worse, the power went out after midnight. We were trapped in a warm stuffy house with no electricity. Do you want to live in a city like this?
The wood smoke has started early this Friday evening. As always when the weather is nice, this is going to be another smoky hell of an evening in North St. Paul, MN.
4:20 PM: No wood smoke. 82 degrees, sunny, beautiful.
6:00 PM: No wood smoke.
7:00 PM: Light wood smoke at this time. First the lighter fluid, then the wood smoke. I went out and found the culprit. It's the same household that burns between this time several times a week. They took a break for a week or two, but the break is over. A huge cloud of smoke of wood smoke is coming from their yard right now. They live about 500 feet from city council member Jan Walczak. I hope she can smell the wood smoke. She loves smoky air. 83 degrees at this time and getting smokier.
This turned out to be one of the smokiest nights in a long time.
8:00 PM: Faint wood smoke.
8:12 PM: Light wood smoke.
8:55 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke. It is really smoky outside.
9:10 PM: Moderate wood smoke. Now it is very smoky outside. The intensity of the wood smoke increased in 15 minutes.
10:00 PM: Faint to light wood smoke. The poisonous North St. Paul air is decreasing in toxicity.
10:15 PM: Faint wood smoke. We are heading in the right direction, thank God!
11:20 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. It is extremely smoky outside right now. It is so smoky, I can smell wood smoke coming in with all the windows and doors closed up tight.
11:45 PM: Strong wood smoke! The wood smoke is so heavy it cannot get much stronger! This air is not fit for human consumption. Just sticking my head out the door for a few seconds left me smelling like wood smoke. I have to bathe and change clothes before bed. We again are tortured by our city council all of whom support this wood smoke pollution.
To make matters much worse, the power went out after midnight. We were trapped in a warm stuffy house with no electricity. Do you want to live in a city like this?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Thursday 06/03/2010 Air Pollution
7:30 PM: No wood smoke. I am confident there will be, as there almost always is. I do not know if the impending rain storm will discourage recreational bonfire air polluters tonight. As of this moment, the sky is cloudy and rain clouds are moving in. It is not supposed to rain until after midnight, according to Chikage Windler at KSTP-TV news. 76 degrees at this time measured at North High School. It is a pleasant, smoke-free evening so far. I will not be disappointed if it starts raining earlier than midnight if it means our air won't be smoky.
There was no wood smoke where we live this evening. We got lucky! But there was wood smoke elsewhere in North St. Paul. Somebody is always burning something in this town. You do not have to look hard to find smoky, polluted air in this city. Polluted air isn't unusual. What is unusual is when the air isn't polluted in the evenings.
1) Light to moderate wood smoke at the location of the first marker just south of St. Mary's Cemetary. I could not locate the source of the wood smoke and could not determine if it was coming from the North St. Paul or the Maplewood side of the street. I first smelled wood smoke at Lydia & Helen and it was strongest at the area of the marker with no wood smoke to the south. The breeze seemed to be blowing north this evening.
2) A very faint trace of wood smoke at this location. With the breeze out of the south, it is possible that it could have been from the source labeled number three. I smelled wood smoke at location two, lost it, and picked it up again by the dock on the lake.
3) Light to moderate wood smoke at this location. It was a little smoky on 18th between Henry & Charles. As I proceeded down on Charles toward Silver Lake Market, it got smokier. As far as bonfires go, this must have been a small one. I could not pinpoint the house that was producing the wood smoke. I did notice a yellow glow from a backyard on the northeast corner of 17th & Charles. But I could not determine if the glow was from a bonfire or from one of the lights on the back of the house as they were on at the time. It was also smoky in this area this past Monday. In 2008, this was the smokiest area of the city. There must be a frequent burner over here.
It did not take more than five minutes for me to find smoky air this evening. Wood, grass, leaves, somebody is always burning something.
A few drops of rain fell around 9:30 PM for a few minutes. It rained a little more about 11:30 PM. The rain continued lightly after midnight. Normally, it would have been smoky where we live. The incoming rain could have discouraged some backyard bonfire polluters. But it did not discourage all of them.
There was no wood smoke where we live this evening. We got lucky! But there was wood smoke elsewhere in North St. Paul. Somebody is always burning something in this town. You do not have to look hard to find smoky, polluted air in this city. Polluted air isn't unusual. What is unusual is when the air isn't polluted in the evenings.
1) Light to moderate wood smoke at the location of the first marker just south of St. Mary's Cemetary. I could not locate the source of the wood smoke and could not determine if it was coming from the North St. Paul or the Maplewood side of the street. I first smelled wood smoke at Lydia & Helen and it was strongest at the area of the marker with no wood smoke to the south. The breeze seemed to be blowing north this evening.
2) A very faint trace of wood smoke at this location. With the breeze out of the south, it is possible that it could have been from the source labeled number three. I smelled wood smoke at location two, lost it, and picked it up again by the dock on the lake.
3) Light to moderate wood smoke at this location. It was a little smoky on 18th between Henry & Charles. As I proceeded down on Charles toward Silver Lake Market, it got smokier. As far as bonfires go, this must have been a small one. I could not pinpoint the house that was producing the wood smoke. I did notice a yellow glow from a backyard on the northeast corner of 17th & Charles. But I could not determine if the glow was from a bonfire or from one of the lights on the back of the house as they were on at the time. It was also smoky in this area this past Monday. In 2008, this was the smokiest area of the city. There must be a frequent burner over here.
It did not take more than five minutes for me to find smoky air this evening. Wood, grass, leaves, somebody is always burning something.
A few drops of rain fell around 9:30 PM for a few minutes. It rained a little more about 11:30 PM. The rain continued lightly after midnight. Normally, it would have been smoky where we live. The incoming rain could have discouraged some backyard bonfire polluters. But it did not discourage all of them.
Wednesday 06/02/2010 Air Pollution
There was no wood smoke this evening. But we did have some pretty nasty grass smoke late in the evening. As I have said many times before, if people are not burning wood in this city, they are burning yard waste.
4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Only fresh air like human beings deserve, even if our city council does not think so. 70 degrees, mostly cloudy.
6:30 PM: No wood smoke. Sunny, 73 degrees.
7:30 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air. It is not strong enough to tell what it is.
8:30 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke continues. I can easily determine the air is not fresh even if I cannot identify the type of pollutant.
10:40 PM: No wood smoke. The air is fresh.
11:05 PM: Grass smoke. Somebody is burning grass! The grass smoke started out faintly then achieved a light to moderate level within minutes. Grass smoke usually does not get that strong. I do not know who is burning the grass. I stepped outside before it got too strong and looked around and saw nobody nearby burning. There is only one household I know of that burns grass late at night. They do it often. They know grass burning is illegal and they do it under cover of darkness sometimes. Usually, they burn wood and burn their yard waste with it. I am in no mood to drive up to the house to verify it is them when I am getting ready for bed.
The stench of burning grass lasted about 20 minutes. Around 11:30 PM, the air was mostly clear with a faint hint of grass smoke remaining. At midnight, the air was fresh and clear -- as it should be. They have burned grass after midnight before. I am sure they will do it again. We must sleep with the windows closed as always.
Do you want to live in a city like this?
4:00 PM: No wood smoke. Only fresh air like human beings deserve, even if our city council does not think so. 70 degrees, mostly cloudy.
6:30 PM: No wood smoke. Sunny, 73 degrees.
7:30 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke is in the air. It is not strong enough to tell what it is.
8:30 PM: A very faint trace of some type of smoke continues. I can easily determine the air is not fresh even if I cannot identify the type of pollutant.
10:40 PM: No wood smoke. The air is fresh.
11:05 PM: Grass smoke. Somebody is burning grass! The grass smoke started out faintly then achieved a light to moderate level within minutes. Grass smoke usually does not get that strong. I do not know who is burning the grass. I stepped outside before it got too strong and looked around and saw nobody nearby burning. There is only one household I know of that burns grass late at night. They do it often. They know grass burning is illegal and they do it under cover of darkness sometimes. Usually, they burn wood and burn their yard waste with it. I am in no mood to drive up to the house to verify it is them when I am getting ready for bed.
The stench of burning grass lasted about 20 minutes. Around 11:30 PM, the air was mostly clear with a faint hint of grass smoke remaining. At midnight, the air was fresh and clear -- as it should be. They have burned grass after midnight before. I am sure they will do it again. We must sleep with the windows closed as always.
Do you want to live in a city like this?
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tuesday 06/01/2010 Air Pollution
It may not be the official start of summer, but summer starts with June for me. What does summer bring us? Smoky air!
Polluted air is a way of life in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. Summer is smokier than winter around these parts. When the kids get out of school for the summer, the wood smoke gets even worse.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. 76 degrees. It was windy earlier around 3 PM and looked as if it might rain. Unfortunately, it did not. No rain and temperatures in the 70s means with near certainty that this will be another smoky, polluted evening in North St. Paul. As soon as I smell smoke coming in, the windows are getting closed.
There was no wood smoke this evening. It rained lightly around 11:30 PM. I last checked the air at midnight and it was free of wood smoke pollution. We will gladly take any evening we can get without smoky air.
Polluted air is a way of life in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. Summer is smokier than winter around these parts. When the kids get out of school for the summer, the wood smoke gets even worse.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke yet. 76 degrees. It was windy earlier around 3 PM and looked as if it might rain. Unfortunately, it did not. No rain and temperatures in the 70s means with near certainty that this will be another smoky, polluted evening in North St. Paul. As soon as I smell smoke coming in, the windows are getting closed.
There was no wood smoke this evening. It rained lightly around 11:30 PM. I last checked the air at midnight and it was free of wood smoke pollution. We will gladly take any evening we can get without smoky air.
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