Smoke Returns To Wyoming But From A Different Direction

Wyoming and some other Western states did get a couple of days of smoke relief the last weekend of July.

Sorry, but here it comes again.

The good news is that Canada is not producing much smoke anymore.

The bad news is that California is.

We won't get another look at crystal clear skies until the wind changes from west to east, to south to north.

What makes it a bit worse is the calmer winds that keep the smoke in our area a lot longer.

The map below shows us that most of North America is covered.

We could use some good rain and a change of wind direction.

Those fire-affected areas will have to wait another week or so before they get any rain.

But putting out a fire causes a lot more smoke, in the short run.

So we will have to put up with worse before it gets better.

Below is a map showing us where those fires are.

What you're seeing is not unusual for this time of year.

You can follow this smoke map at this link.

The good news is that fire seasons over the past few decades have been less severe, not greater.

While some years produce more wildfires than others, the overall trend, in North America and Globally is down.

Wildfires, especially in arid parts of the United States, have always been a natural part of the environment and likely always will.

Data displayed by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, or NOAA, show no discernable trend for increased drought in the United States in over 125 years.

The U.S. National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reports data on U.S. wildfires back as far as 1926.

According to NIFC data, the number of acres burned is far less now than it was throughout the early 20th century, 100 years ago.

Current acres burned run about 1/4th to 1/5th of the record values which occurred in the 1930s.

At that time, the peak wildfire burn was over 52 million acres.

In the decade since 2010, the peaks have been 10 million acres or less.