Smoke lingering in Colorado, overall improvement expected

The smoke that was expected to move into Colorado from the north on Wednesday moved further to the east and dispersed along the cold front that is heading our way. This spared many areas of Colorado from the higher particulate levels that appeared possible in yesterdays forecast. Great news! 

As the cold front enters Colorado from the northeast, it may push some of the smoke back toward our state and bring hazy skies and light concentrations of smoke to areas of eastern Colorado, pushing southward over the eastern plains throughout the day on Thursday.

Smoke from fires in western Wyoming made its way into areas of northwestern Colorado, and appears to be lingering in some of the mountain valleys in Routt, Grand, Moffat, Rio Blanco, and other northwestern counties. However, surface monitors still show minimal surface impacts, even in these areas.

The map of surface air quality due to fine particulate matter (smoke) from fire.airnow.gov in the morning hours of Thursday, October 3rd, shows only light to moderate impacts from smoke, due to wildfires actively burning in other states to the north and west of Colorado.

Breezy winds throughout he day on Thursday will help to disperse the smoke that is present and limit overall concentrations from rising significantly from the current levels. Additionally, as the trough associated with the cold front moves eastward, a shift in the large-scale wind pattern looks to push things northward again, and decrease the likelihood of more smoke coming our way on Friday and into the weekend.

Though haze and light concentrations of fine particulates are expected to persist, particularly in the areas mentioned above (with some pockets of Moderate air quality remaining possible too), no significant impacts are anticipated; and the trend appears to be headed in the right direction. We will keep monitoring conditions and updating expectations as things develop, however the current outlook lets us anticipate clearing skies and fresh autumn air in the coming days.

Those that are particularly sensitive to particulate pollution may continue to consider reducing activity on Thursday, especially folks with preexisting respiratory ailments. Yet the potential for worsening conditions appears to have been avoided, and continuing improvement is expected. More info will be reported here if things change from the current outlook, but we hope that, as the old saying goes, 'no news is good news,' over the coming days.