The wildfires that continue to burn wildly in parts of Canada are having a direct impact on the entire state of Iowa.

US Air Quality reports the Canadian wildfires, especially the one at Ft McMurray, are producing huge amounts of smoke. That smoke is traveling across Canada and then diving nearly straight south toward the midwest. It's covering Minnesota, most of Missouri and Nebraska, nearly all of the Dakotas, more than half of Wisconsin, and all of Iowa. The graphic below shows the worst smoke over the state of Iowa in the central and western parts of the state.

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You may experience a little scratchiness in the throat today, an allergy might flare up, or the sky may not be quite as blue, but we should all consider ourselves lucky. Two days ago, the entire Alberta, Canada town of Ft. McMurrary, with a population of more than 80,000, was forced into a mandatory evacuation. It's the largest evacuation in the history of Canada. Officials were left no choice when every effort they made to stop the wildfire was unsuccessful.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those in Canada affected by the fires, as well as the firefighters who continue to battle them. This Boston Globe photo gallery shows just some of what they're all dealing with.

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