Wildfire smoke and ground-level ozone combined to make it a difficult day to breathe across Colorado on Monday.
Smoke from fires burning in Colorado and in Utah inundated mountain valleys, leading to air quality graded moderate or worse across much of western Colorado. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality health advisory due to smoke for Grand, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Summit, Eagle, Garfield, Mesa, Delta, Pitkin, Lake, Park, Chaffee, Gunnison, Montrose, Ouray, San Miguel, Dolores and northern Montezuma counties.
"Moderate to heavy smoke impacts are currently being felt in communities such as Edwards, Aspen and Silverthorne," the agency posted on its daily smoke blog. "The heaviest smoke is being reported in the valleys of Grand County, where Highway 40 is a smoky drive from Winter Park northward through Fraser and Granby to the shores of Grand Lake."
Areas around Pueblo also reported poor air quality Monday morning, due to a fire that has forced the evacuation of the town of Beulah.
And, while the Front Range was largely smoke-free Monday morning, that could change as the afternoon winds and temperatures increase, allowing the fires to grow bigger.
To continue reading this story, visit The Colorado Sun.
