It was another miserable, smoky hell of a day in North Saint Paul, Minnesota. Wood smoke in the early afternoon followed by pretty heavy smoke from burning leaves followed by extremely heavy wood smoke. The wood smoke was so heavy tonight we could smell it coming in with all the windows closed. Today marked the first occurrence of smoke from burning leaves for the season. We can look forward to smoke from burning leaves a few times a week for almost two months.
Do you want to live in a city like this?
2:30 PM: Faint wood smoke at this time. I did not record the temperature. It was about 60 degrees.
3:45 PM: Very faint to faint wood smoke continues.
5:00 PM: No real smoke for the moment.
6:15 PM: Light to moderate leaf smoke. Somebody is illegally burning leaves. This is the first time I've smelled leaf smoke this fall. There will be plenty more. As strong as the smoke is, the burner cannot be far. I looked around outside and did not see any smoke. Sunny, 59 degrees at this time.
6:45 PM: Moderate smoke from burning leaves. The air is filled with leaf smoke. Smoke from burning yard waste does not usually get this strong. It could be more than one person burning leaves. One time I went out to look for yard waste smoke and found three homes within a quarter mile upwind burning yard waste at the same time.
7:37 PM: A very faint smoke from burning leaves continues. Soon the wood smoke will start. North St. Paul sucks!
7:55 PM: Moderate wood smoke. The air is very smoky from burning wood now.
8:30 PM: Strong wood smoke. The air is extremely smoky! This air is not fit for human consumption! Our city council should be criminally charged with torture for making us breathe air like this! The wood smoke is so heavy we can smell it coming in with all the windows closed. The air does not get this smoky often during the winter. Winter is the least smoky season in this town.
9:30 PM: Strong wood smoke continues. No fresh air anytime soon I'm afraid. I hate this city.
10:30 PM: Strong wood smoke continues. Last check of the evening.