Large wildfires in Canada are producing plumes of smoke that are moving into the U.S. Some of this smoke will move over Colorado on Friday. The bulk of the smoke is expected to remain aloft, however hazy skies are likely for areas east of the Continental Divide; including the Front Range and eastern plains of Colorado.
Satellite image from CIRA shows a smoke plume at 3 pm on Thursday afternoon (21Z 5/29/25, circled in red) from Canadian wildfires over North Dakota and Montana.
Although there may be significant amounts of smoke in the atmosphere above our state, only some of this smoke has a chance to reach the surface and affect air quality. Currently, models are only showing light to moderate amounts of fine particulates near the surface, possibly arriving Friday afternoon and evening.
As of this writing (Thursday afternoon) surface impacts have not been observed in monitored values in areas where smoke may have mixed downward. A good deal of uncertainty still remains with this situation, so we will continue to monitor things as they evolve, and will continue to provide updates as they develop. We are not expecting significant public health impacts from this event, however those who are highly sensitive to smoke/particulate pollution can find info and recommendations on ways to protect your health on CDPHE's Wildfire smoke and health page.
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