Transported Smoke

Aqua Satellite: August 16, 2015

My allergies have been acting up. I'll bet it is caused by all the smoke in the air. Some of this smoke is likely transported from the northern California fires.

PM 2.5 levels increased across northern Utah, as indicated by several air quality monitoring stations:

At the University of Utah you can see the particulate mater and black carbon concentrations rise late in the evening on August 15th and then drop back down. However, PM concentrations have stayed elevated.

The MTMET ceilometer also shows the smoke increasing particles in the air Saturday evening.

You can see a difference in the air quality in this time lapse video from the Neil Armstrong Academy. Looking at the beginning of the video you can clearly see the mountains in the distance. Fast forward to the next day and the smoke has blown in and the thick smoke obstructs the view.



I was in Moab the evening the smoke blew in and witnessed an amazing sunset. Small particles of smoke scatter light which produces these warm orange and red colors in the horizon in the evening.