Smoky Skies In Colorado... How Long Will They Last? - KKTV

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Y’all saw it this morning and afternoon... smoky skies are very visible in Southern Colorado right now. It’s especially noticeable in the Pikes Peak Region as the mountains have become obscured in Colorado Springs. Below are images of the smoke across the Pikes Peak Region ⬇️⬇️

Where is the smoke coming from?

As it has for the past few years, big fires west of Colorado are bringing a majority of this smoke. Below is a forecast for how the plumes will move across the west over the next couple of days... The red indicates areas where most of the smoke is coming from. One of the big fires in Idaho is the Moose Fire which has burned over 100,000 acres since July, but many other fires in the Pacific Northwest are providing smoke.

The latest round is getting a lot of help from the Double Creek fire on the Oregon/Idaho border. That fire has burned 60k acres as of Wednesday morning.

Should you worry about it? When will it move away?

Air quality is not great in the Pikes Peak Region today, so avoiding a ton of time outdoors is probably a better idea. If your nose or throat feel a little itchier than normal, the smoke is probably why. For folks who are very sensitive to air quality changes or have other underlying conditions, it would be best to stay inside today.

With the cold front pushing south over the next several days, we’ll probably be able to clear out this haze... but for most of the day Thursday and the early part of Friday, expect this smoke to be around... it may get even worse into Friday morning.

Unfortunately, while the cold front clears us out around the weekend, more smoke may develop early next week as winds pick up again out west. Short-range weather data indicates more smoke increasing around these fires by Monday of next week... that smoke could once again be pushed into our area by the middle of next week.

-Luke

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