Minnesota weather: Hot and hazy on Thursday as wildfire smoke moves in

(FOX 9) - It's going to feel a lot like summer on Thursday, with temperatures climbing to around 90 degrees in the Twin Cities and even warmer in southwestern Minnesota. 

Overnight Thursday, scattered showers start to develop in the north and west parts of the state. Lows will drop into the 60s with increasing clouds for the Twin Cities metro.

This comes as a cold front slips into the area on Friday into Saturday, which will help it feel less like summer and a bit more like fall. It'll be much cooler on Friday, with a high of 71 degrees in the Twin Cities. Scattered showers are possible. 

This weekend, things will stay cool with a lingering drip and a high of 68 degrees on Saturday, followed by sunshine and a high of 70 on Sunday. 

Wildfire smoke moves into Minnesota

Smoke from wildfires out west has made its way into Minnesota. 

The good news is the smokiness isn't expected to be anything like the summer of 2021. While the sky will look hazy on Thursday, the smoke is in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere, so it shouldn't smell too smoky nor impact your normal, everyday activities (the air quality is still good or moderate for Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency).

All this smoke stems from a heat dome across the western United States, which is seeing record-level warmth for this time of year with temperatures above 110 degrees in some areas. 

That heat dome will start to break down and is starting to roll its way west and eastward thanks to westerly and southwest breezes. That's starting to bring in wildfire smoke from the dozens of large wildfires in the west. 

FOX 9's Cody Matz explains the science behind it all in the video above.