It was an extremely smoky evening. Burning leaf smoke in the afternoon followed by heavy wood smoke in the evening. If you don't want to breathe heavy smoke pollution, you will be miserable in North St. Paul as we are.
3:30 PM: Very faint leaf smoke at this time.
4:15 PM: Very faint leaf smoke continues. In the distance I can see two homes down the road burning in their backyards. The smoke isn't making it this direction as it is blowing south. One is a frequent wood and yard waste burner. 51 degrees and sunny.
5:30 PM: Very faint leaf smoke continues. That's two hours of continuous smoke from burning leaves.
6:05 PM: A very faint smoke of some kind is in the air.
7:00 PM: Light to moderate wood smoke at this time. The air is uncomfortably smoky.
7:35 PM: Moderate to strong wood smoke. The air is extremely smoky. You do not want to be outside breathing this air. It is heavily polluted. Breathing air this smoky is difficult to put it mildly. Your lungs do not want to expand to intake the polluted air. 44 degrees at this time. Last check of the evening.
When I woke Sunday morning at 6 AM the air was fresh. The air was fresh all morning Sunday. People say that fireplaces are used for home heating. Most are not. We have very little wood smoke in the air in the mornings even in the middle of winter. Wood smoke from fireplaces is concentrated in the evenings making them recreational in purpose. If people used fireplaces for home heating, wouldn't they be used in the morning which is usually the coldest part of the day?