Wildfire smoke that has blanketed large parts of Colorado started to clear late last week but is expected to return as fires rage in California. Other fires in Canada and the Pacific Northwest are contributing to the thick haze and poor air quality experienced by much of the region recently.
Christine Wiedinmyer, Associate Director for Science at the Cooperative Institute for Research and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado, says changing winds pushed the smoke into this region.
“It was only when the jet stream and the winds switched that blew all that smoke from the fires in Oregon and Washington, as well as the fires from Canada into Colorado and the Front Range. And sometimes that smoke stays up high, and we can see the haze, but we don't breathe it in,” explained Wiedinmyer.
“Unfortunately, this past week, the smoke has actually gotten down to the surface where we can breathe in those particles, which is not good for our health.”
Wiedinmyer says these types of smoke events are occurring more frequently as climate change leads to drier conditions and a longer wildfire season.
“Fires across the western United States, in particular, have been more extreme, more severe, bigger, lasting longer,” explained Wiedinmyer.
Wiedinmyer says that while wildfire season peaked in the summer months in decades past, it is expanding now.
“Now we see extreme events in June and into October, November,” she said.
“The whole system is changing, and we're seeing the effects by just breathing in more and more smoke, having that smoke impact air quality more and more often.”
While the skies are starting to clear, experts caution that the smoke could return if the wildfires worsen or weather patterns change.
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