Smoke from the more than 700 wildfires burning in Canada is continuing to blanket parts of the Midwest.
Air quality alerts are in effect in cities including Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit and Des Moines, Iowa. Most of the alerts pertain to sensitive groups, but in northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, air quality might be considered unhealthy for everyone at times.
Much of the Midwest will see conditions improve on Sunday as the smoke pushes east across the rest of the Great Lakes region.
Saturday wildfire smoke.
ABC News
Meanwhile, in the South, there’s an elevated flash flood risk in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, where scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast for Saturday afternoon. Strong, slow-moving thunderstorms could drop rain at 1 to 2 inches per hour.
Scattered severe thunderstorms could also hit the Plains, from the Texas Panhandle to western Nebraska, on Saturday evening. Strong wind gusts, large hail and flash flooding are possible.
And in the West, an extreme heat warning is in effect for portions of Arizona, including the cities of Phoenix and Tucson. Temperatures could top 110 degrees in Phoenix over the next few days.
The warm, dry and windy weather in the West is also creating dangerous fire conditions. Red flag warnings are in effect for portions of Utah, Colorado, Idaho and Oregon. In eastern Oregon and southern Idaho, dry lightning during isolated thunderstorms could potentially start new fires.
