Mucky Air Along The Front Range Isn’t Going Anywhere Just Yet

It’s that time of the year when fog, ozone, smoke from wildfires, and dust from construction and farming combine to make the Rockies invisible at times along The Front Range.  And National Weather Service meteorologist Kyle Fredin says these poor air quality days will be around, on and off, for a few more weeks.

“We often times don’t get the best improved visibility until the month of September when we start getting those stronger northwesterly winds that come down to the surface and bring in the real dry air," he says. “But mostly the particulates that decrease visibility are primarily moisture which is water vapor and smoke. There is some construction that goes along the Front Range, northeast plains along with agriculture so some of that could be dust.”

The ozone alert in effect until Friday afternoon for the Front Range should not be confused with poor air quality, he added. The latter is a visibility problem that is not a serious health threat.