Plenty of smoke to be found across eastern Colorado Wednesday morning. An Action Day for Multiple Pollutants is already in effect for the northern Front Range region, including Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins, Greeley, and surrounding areas due to the combination of wildfire smoke and ozone that is expected today. Unfortunately three sizable wildfires (Alexander Mountain, Stone Canyon, and Quarry) are feeding additional smoke into the I-25 corridor. Although there is smoke throughout the area, locally heavier smoke can be found in closer vicinity to those three wildfires. Notice on the below image from the EPA's Fire and Smoke Map the higher levels of particle pollution (in oranges and reds) downwind of those three fires in Loveland, Longmont, and southwestern parts of the Denver metro area. Gradual improvement with the smoke is anticipated by this afternoon in areas close to the fires as the atmosphere begins to heat up, but keep in mind that ozone will also be increasing this afternoon. So today might be a good day to just move your plans indoors, if possible. While outside, be sure to take plenty of extra breaks.
Meanwhile, this morning's cold front brought an influx of out-of-state smoke to the eastern plains. Webcam images and monitoring data reveal moderate to heavy smoke across the northeastern corner of Colorado, so an Air Quality Health Advisory for Wildfire Smoke will be in effect through at least 9am Thursday. We do anticipate some improvement with the air quality for the eastern plains on Thursday, so hopefully we will not need to extend the advisory beyond 9am.
Light, but possibly noticeable smoke can be found in other parts of the state as well. Some smoke moved into northwestern Colorado overnight from Wyoming. Fortunately, smoke levels are not terribly high and major public health impacts are not anticipated. However, if you suffer from asthma or other respiratory ailments, you may want to take it easy today and limit exertion while outdoors in Steamboat Springs, Craig, and Rangely.
Smoke is also likely to have an influence on ozone today. Ozone is already part of the current alert in the northern Front Range region, but elevated ozone is also possible further south in the Colorado Springs and Pueblo metropolitan areas. Therefore, we have issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for Ozone for those areas today as well.
Throughout this current smoke episode, we continue to advise those impacted to protect your health with plenty of resources available at our Wildfire smoke and health webpage. You can also monitor the air quality in your area with the EPA's Fire and Smoke Map.
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