Smoke has started to drift farther east and south into southern Colorado, with more likely on the way.
Smoke visible throughout Teller County due to wind shift and multiple wildfires in the State of Colorado
— Cdr. Greg Couch, PIO (@TCSOPIO) August 13, 2020
Smoke was first noted this morning in Teller County by viewers and in a tweet sent out by Commander Greg Couch of the Teller County Sherrif's Office.
Several viewers, such as Garrett Johannes, started seeing smoke and noticing a red haze over the sky as the sun came up. This picture shows the smoke and haze hovering over the mountains and foothills just below Pikes Peak.
There are two active wildfires burning in western Colorado. The Pine Gulch Fire, the bigger of the two, is burning 18 miles north of Grand Junction and has burned nearly 70,000 acres.
The Grizzly Creek Fire, the smaller fire, has shut down I-70 and is burning at just over 6,000 acres with no containment.
The smoke from both of these fires is forecast to drift east today and tonight due to strong, westerly winds blowing over and through Colorado.
Our HRRR smoke model excellently shows how the smoke is not only visible now in parts of southern Colorado, but will get worse later today and especially overnight. pic.twitter.com/ckXZd7bZFs
— Sam Schreier (@SamASchreier) August 13, 2020
Air quality across most of southern Colorado is considered good through most of today, but by tonight and tomorrow, it will take a dip down to unhealthy for those with breathing problems.
More information on air quality relating to wildfire smoke can be found here.
