Smoke ahead in Colorado?

While fires are burning on the West Coast, we usually see some of that smoke traveling right here to southern Colorado. However, this time around, that isn’t the case. At least, not yet. Here are the details and a little context.

Any smoke we saw today was due to controlled burns on the north slope of Pikes Peak, done in an effort to get rid of slash piles. The localized haze wasn’t from the fires in California.

Do you remember the thick smoke and haze we got this summer? It all stemmed from an eruption of fires in the Pacific Northwest, Canada and California. Will we see hazy conditions this week due to the ongoing fires in California currently?

Bottom line, it’s unlikely that smoke will move into our neck of the woods the next couple of days. The Camp Fire is north of Sacramento, and the Woolsey Fire is near Los Angeles.

Today, the jet stream is too far to the north to draw any of that haze into our backyard. However, as our upper-level winds become more westerly Friday and Saturday, there’s a small chance we could see increasing haze moving from the West Coast to southern Colorado. The smoke on Saturday, if present in our local atmosphere, may mix with thickening clouds making the haze not very noticeable. Again, there’s only a small chance smoke could move to our state.

It’s so strange dealing with such tranquil conditions here at home while others are losing homes and family to the devastating fires out west. It’s something we’ll monitor closely.