The smoky and hazy skies over Colorado will last until at least Wednesday, but may continue into Thursday, due to high ozone levels and wildfire smoke, according to the National Weather Service (NWS) out of Boulder.
Satellite imagery shows plenty of smoke from wildfires in Canada and the Pacific Northwest drifting across the central and northern plains, especially North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. While much of Colorado remains outside the heaviest smoke from the fires, the state is still seeing hazy conditions.
The highest smoke concentrations on Monday appear in the higher elevations in north-central Colorado, including the Park Range and northern parts of the Front Range, according to the CDPHE Air Pollution Control Division.
Rocky Mountain National Park is already starting to see some of this haze, as pictured in the 7:23 a.m. screenshot from the park's live cams below.
"As far as the wildfire smoke is concerned, although lower-level winds will see some directional fluctuation, winds aloft will generally retain at least some northerly component through Thursday," the NWS reported. "Thus, it's hard to envision any substantial reduction in concentrations, under the reasonable assumption that smoke production will remain significant across the PacNW and Canada in the coming days."
The NWS issued an Action Day for Multiple Pollutants for Douglas, Jefferson, Denver, western Arapahoe, western
Adams, Broomfield, Boulder, Larimer, and Weld counties until 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Ozone concentrations are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups in those areas. People who are extra sensitive to air quality, including those who have asthma, should not exert themselves outside, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said.
You can watch the haze in the below timelapse from the CDPHE showing Monday's sunrise:
The CDPHE also issued an air quality health advisory for ozone until 9 p.m. Monday for northern Teller, western El Paso, eastern Fremont and northwestern Pueblo counties. An advisory was issued for central Mesa County until 10 p.m. Monday, and for Moffat, Routt, Grand and Jackson counties until 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Zach Hiris, meteorologist with the NWS, said the haze could linger for a bit because of current weather conditions.
“Generally, when we're getting these kind of hot days with light winds, there really isn’t any way to usher out some of those pollutants. That's when we tend to see those air quality alert days," Hiris said.
However, he said he does not expect the air quality to reach significant levels over the next few days.
Rainfall chances increase on Friday and Saturday before dry and hot conditions return early next week.
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The NWS put it best in their forecast discussion Monday morning: "The weather around here is fun, humbling, frustrating, amazing, chaotic, and (insert your own adjective). Just when we think we have it somewhat figured out, the atmosphere doesn't let us know it`s next move."
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