We are expecting smoke to return to Colorado today, most of it from wildfires burning in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming.
The four main fires producing smoke are the Mullen, Cameron Peak, Williams Fork, and Middle Fork fires. The Mullen fire has grown the quickest this week and is going to keep throwing the majority of our smoke into southern Colorado.
The jetstream is going to help fuel our active fires by increasing the wind over the mountains to our north. We'll keep fire danger high today, and the fires will likely see more growth this afternoon.
The northwest flow in the jet will be a big factor in smoke traveling southeast through southern Colorado.
Smoke is going to thicken up across southern Colorado later today and tonight. We'll get a cold front around midnight tonight that will help clear the skies out on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/MLMZOji1G1
— Sam Schreier (@SamASchreier) October 2, 2020
Our smoke model in the tweet above shows increasing wildfire smoke through the afternoon today. It will stay thickest Friday east of the mountains, but a cold front overnight will clear smoke out of I-25 and possibly push it back west into the high country.
The air quality will likely take a dip today and tonight before the cold front clears out some of this smoke. Be sure and limit your time outside over the next few days, especially if you're sensitive to poor air quality or experience respiratory issues.
