Coloradans will likely wake up to see hazy skies Thursday morning as smoke from several large wildfires in southern California heads east.
The National Weather Service said winds will blow smoke into the state early Thursday. NWS meteorologist Zach Hiris said the smoke won’t be concentrated in any particular. That means the smoke’s negative impact on statewide air quality could be limited.
“A lot of the smoke's going to be aloft, too,” Hiris said. “Definitely hazy skies, but maybe not necessarily the air quality impacts that we've seen at times this summer.”
Hiris said the smoky conditions are expected to persist through at least Friday but could continue depending on whether winds continue to push smoke this way.
Southern California is coping with three major wildfires burning over 100,000 acres across the Los Angeles metropolitan area, threatening buildings and forcing evacuations.
Temperatures in Colorado appear to be cooling off as summer comes to an end. Still, fire danger persists. The NWS issued a critical fire condition warning Wednesday for parts of the Interstate 70 corridor, including Grand Junction, Aspen and Vail.
Xcel Energy warned customers in western Colorado that it may shut off power Thursday as a preemptive effort to prevent downed power lines from sparking fires.
