It’s Smokey Out: Where Did All the Smoke in Colorado Come From?

As I was leaving for work this morning, it felt different outside. The sky was hazy and my eyes instantly started to burn after walking out of my front door. While I was driving to work, I noticed that pretty much everything looked dull and I couldn't see the mountains to the west.

Smoke was in the air again. Where did it come from? According to FIRMS, there are four wildfires in the state of Colorado that are currently burning with a burn area larger than 1,000 acres. This could be the cause of the smoke in Northern Colorado and on the Front Range, but it seems highly unlikely.

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The Fire Information for Resource Management System for the United States and Canada shows a massive amount of wildfires over 1,000 acres burning in Canada. Especially in British Columbia. This is likely the cause of all the smoke in the air.

So if you happen to have burning eyes, trouble breathing, and just an all-around bad time due to smoke in the air, this is likely the cause on Wednesday. The Fire Information for Resource Management System shows each fire that you can click on to see how big the wildfire is, how many acres burned, etc. To see the information about these wildfires HERE.

The National Weather Service with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has issued an Air Quality Alert for 13 counties in Colorado for the smoke from large wildfires being transported from Canada. The advisory states that if the smoke becomes thick, it is recommended to stay indoors and limit outdoor activity when moderate to heavy smoke is present.