Colorado issues air quality advisory for Pueblo due to smoke from Canada wildfires

Thick smoke from wildfires burning in Canada and the Pacific Northwest is creating hazy skies in Pueblo this week.

Jaclyn Ehr, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo, said the smoke will likely linger in the area through at least Thursday as it’s being carried to Colorado by winds coming from the north and northeast.

“There’s large wildfires off to our north so as long as we’ve got that northerly and northeasterly flow we’re going to keep getting the smoke from those areas into our region,” Ehr said.

“As we get into Friday, and into this weekend especially, we have a southwesterly flow coming in and that should help to clear us out a bit. There are wildfires to our southwest but they’re a lot less numerous and a lot smaller so hopefully we’ll see a lot of improvement as we get to the end of this week and definitely into this weekend.”

NWS, state health department warn vulnerable groups to exercise caution

The National Weather Service’s Pueblo office issued an air quality alert for Pueblo, El Paso, Fremont and Teller counties on Tuesday, warning that the heavy smoke would result in elevated concentrations of both ozone and particle pollution.

In an air quality advisory posted on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website, officials warned that if smoke becomes thick in your neighborhood, you may want to remain indoors.

“People with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the very young, and older adults should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion and limit time outdoors,” the advisory states. “Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion and take more breaks while outside. Consider relocating temporarily if smoke is present indoors and is making you ill. If visibility is less than 5 miles in smoke in your neighborhood, smoke has reached levels that are unhealthy.”

A real-time air quality map showing current conditions in Pueblo can be found on the Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment website at county.pueblo.org/public-health-department/air-quality.

What to expect from Pueblo weather the rest of this week

Aside from the smoke, Pueblo weather was expected to be fairly tame Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with higher temperatures expected to return this weekend.

“What we’re seeing today is pretty similar to what we’re going to see tomorrow and Thursday, just a gradual increase in temperatures and most of our rain and thunderstorm chances are going to stay really restricted to the higher terrain,” Ehr said.

“By the time we get to Friday though we’ll see that southwesterly flow increasing and some of those rain and thunderstorm chances could drift off more easily into the mountain-adjacent plains and into the I-25 corridor and we’ll see increasing temperatures as well from Friday through Sunday.”

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Chieftain Editor Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@gannett.com, or on X, at @ZachHillstrom. Support local news, subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Colorado issues air quality advisory for Pueblo due to smoke from Canada wildfires