Wyoming Smoke Update, Monday 10/07/24

Looking at the map above it's obvious where Wyoming's biggest fires are.

Most of the smoke, at the moment, seems to be coming out of Togwotee Pass, on the western side of Wyoming, and from the Elk Fire up in the northern Bighorn Mountains.

Winds can be a curse and a blessing at the same time.

On the one hand, a good stout wind will blow the smoke away and allow us a chance to breathe easily, literally.

But those same winds fan the flames and must make those fires far worse.

Over the next few days, Wyoming will have very little wind.

That's good news for firefighters.

But that also means that smoke will gather and linger in the air with nothing to whisk it away.

A good rain would help calm those fires and scrub that smoke out of the air.

But there isn't any rain in the forecast until mid to late October.

We are stuck with this dry, smoky weather for a while.

Highway 14 is closed on the eastern side of the Bighorns due to smoke and fire.

There is concern that lingering smoke might close Togwotee Pass again.

Not all of the smoke that's burning your eyes and irritating your sinuses is from Wyoming.

Utah has been suffering through mountain fires all summer long.

They are also stuck in this same dry and windless pattern for a while longer.

You can check daily air quality maps in several ways, including at this link.