PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) – Wildfire smoke: It’s just one of the contributing factors with the air quality index and it can impact it for the worse. So, let’s take into account an example. Let’s use Friday, August 2nd. What we do like to see even though we don’t like hazy skies, is lighter shades of blue because that indicates lower concentrations of smoke in the atmosphere. What we don’t like to see with haziness is thicker plumes of smoke indicated by darker shades of oranges and yellows. If it reaches the surface, it significantly impacts our air quality levels for the worse.

What’s with all the smoke? It’s not associated with a wildfire anywhere near here. It’s actually associated with a wildfire thousands of miles away from here in California. It’s what is known as the Park Fire and it has been burning since about the 24th of July. It’s only about 18% contained and has resulted in over 391,000 acres burned so far. As you can imagine, that billowing smoke gets poured off of the wildfire and lifted into the atmosphere. The atmosphere is acting as a dome trapping in that smoke at the upper levels. What heavily influences that smoke travel overall is what we call the jet stream. That is the fast moving column of air and it becomes a major influence in driving that smoke further eastward, which is why you’ll notice a haziness to the skies despite the fact the fire is burning thousands of miles away on the other side of the country. Given that this fire is only about 18% contained at this point, it’s very likely we will continue to deal with hazy skies at times through at least the course of the next couple of weeks.

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