Smoke From Wildfires Out West Will Cover Colorado This Weekend. Here’s What Health Officials Advise

Smoke from wildfires in California and Oregon is wafting east and will blanket most of Colorado today and possibly some on Sunday.

“We have a system actually moving out to our north that's bringing in thicker smoke because aloft we have winds coming out of the West, Northwest,” said Caitlyn Mensch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder. 

A smoke advisory is in place for most of the state. 

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in the advisory that smoke “will continue to spread from northwest to southeast across the advisory area through Saturday afternoon with areas of moderate to heavy smoke expected through at least Sunday morning.”

Here’s what the CDPHE advises

CDPHE says that if visibility is less than five miles in the smoke around you, the air has reached levels that are unhealthy. The agency advises that:

• You should limit outdoor activity if smoke becomes thick in your neighborhood.
• Those with heart or respiratory conditions, young children and the elderly should remain indoors. 
• You should relocate if there is smoke in your home that is making you sick.

Highs in the Denver metro will be in the mid-80s Saturday, lower than what was forecasted because of the smoke.