Smoke is exceptionally thick in El Paso County this morning, and it's all from wildfires burning in northern Colorado.
A lot of smoke in the air today in El Paso County. This is from an area of low pressure ahead of our cool front along with northerly winds feeding smoke into the region pic.twitter.com/ZXEeVZmeAz
— Sam Schreier (@SamASchreier) September 30, 2020
There are about four wildfires in northern Colorado and Wyoming sending smoke down south into our region. The largest of the fires, the Cameron Peak, Mullen, and Williams Fork, are the main smoke producers this morning.
Several News5 viewers shared photos with us of ash and smoke this morning in southern Colorado.
Here's a picture of the ash that's falling in Colorado Springs. This was taken by Patriot Park (Powers/Galley) by Nick Marinovich on a grill cover pic.twitter.com/zNi2vnprNC
— Sam Schreier (@SamASchreier) September 30, 2020
More ash in Colorado Springs by Jeff Davis. The pictures we've seen have shown ash as a very small and fine particulate. pic.twitter.com/SRFABbnipx
— Sam Schreier (@SamASchreier) September 30, 2020
An area of low pressure ahead of a cool front today along with northerly winds are taking the smoke up north and blowing it down south. The smoke is pooling up the heaviest in El Paso County this morning, Monument Hill and the Palmer Divide likely playing a role in that.
An air quality alert was issued in the morning for southern Colorado in Teller, El Paso, Fremont, Custer, Pueblo, Huerfano, and Las Animas counties. Locations include, but are not limited to Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, Canon City, Pueblo, Walsenburg, and Trinidad.
A cold front and jet stream change tonight will hopefully clear out the smoke a bit by tomorrow, but simply put, the smoke will continue to periodically blow in until the fires are put out.
