6:15 PM: Faint wood smoke for a minute or two, then it was gone.
7:00 PM: No wood smoke.
8:00 PM: No wood smoke.
8:30 PM: No wood smoke.
As the sun was going down, I went out to see if I could find some wood smoke. I had no problem finding it. A very faint trace of wood smoke was found all over. There is not much of a breeze tonight. There is nothing to blow the smoke away so it just lingers and slowly drifts along with the breeze.
I found one bonfire. A house on the lake over on Swan Ave. was having a small but smoky bonfire. The flames could not have been more than 2 feet high, well within the requirements of the recreational burning ordinance. The smoke was slowly drifting south. Faint to light wood smoke on the southern edge of Silver Lake. I could smell the smoke down on 18th Ave -- a quarter mile away. I did not go any further south.
As I made my way back west, I noticed the people who were having the fire were shooting fireworks off into the lake. They could have been bottle rockets fired from the ground, arcing into the air then into the water. So not only were those jackasses polluting the air, they were polluting the water as well. I do not think flying, flaming, exploding fireworks are legal in Minnesota. According to the state website, aerial fireworks like those being used are illegal.
http://www.fire.state.mn.us/FireworksInfo.html
Explosive and aerial fireworks are prohibited for public sale, possession and use. Prohibited fireworks include firecrackers, bottle rockets, missiles, roman candles, mortars and shells.9:30 PM: Very faint wood smoke where we live. Back home now. It is going to be a smoky night.
9:45 PM: Light wood smoke at this time.
10:15 PM: Light wood smoke. I was going to call it light to moderate, it is close.
I hate this city. I used to really like living here, but I have grown to hate it. It 74 degrees at this time and the humidity level is between 60% and 65% in the Twin Cities, within a comfortable range. This would normally be a night that we would turn the air conditioner off and leave the windows open. Back in the late 1990s, that is exactly what we would have done. But we cannot do that because the air is so damn smoky in this horrible city! Who wants to breathe smoky air in bed? As I write this paragraph our air conditioning is running. Our thermostat is set at 75 degrees. It is cooler outside than it is inside but we cannot open the windows because our horrible city council makes us breathe smoky air!
10:40 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. It has gotten a little smokier outside. It is now 72 degrees measured at North High School. Our air conditioner is running again. How much money does this cost us, North St. Paul? Why do we have to run the air conditioner when the outside temperature is a mild 72 degrees? Because the air is smoky!
11:15 PM: Faint wood smoke remains. The air pollution decreased quickly.
Midnight: Light to moderate wood smoke. The intensity of the wood smoke increased since the last check. It is pretty smoky outside. The windows will remain closed all night. Last air quality check of the night.
When I woke Sunday morning, the outside temperature was 64 degrees. A pleasant and cool summer morning. But we had to leave the windows closed and the air conditioner running all night because of the smoky air. The more we residents of North St. Paul have to run our air conditioners, the more the city makes in utility fees. The city has an interest in the residents using as much electricity as possible because the city resells the electricity to the households at a profit. The profits generated by electricity sales go into the general fund which is then spent by our elected officials. I am pretty sure that is how it works.
