The Des Moines Register

A thick smoke plume caused by a northern Minnesota wildfire has been rolling south through Iowa on Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

"This smoke is likely to cause a significant decline in air quality and may result in difficult breathing. Those with asthma or other respiratory problems need to take the necessary precautions to insure their safety this morning," the weather service said in a warning statement.

Although a giant wildfire that has all but consumed the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, has been in the headlines, it is coincidental the blazes overlapped, said Allan Curtis, a meteorologist with the weather service.

As of 8 p.m., Curtis said the worst of the smoke was behind the Des Moines metropolitan area, with most of the smoke in southern Iowa or northern Missouri.

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency currently has the metro area and most of southern Iowa listed under "unhealthy for sensitive groups" on the air quality index, according to a press release from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The elderly, those with respiratory conditions and children should take precautions when going outside, said the DNR.

For Curtis, the simplest solution would be to stay indoors until the EPA's air quality index lowers back down to moderate or good.