Wildfire smoke out west turned blue skies grey in mid-Missouri this weekend

Smoke from wildfires out west has plumed towards the Midwest. This can happen from time to time as wildfire season gears up across the United States. This weekend, smoke was particularly thick and left mid-MO skies a hazy, milky grey, versus a typical clear-day blue sky.

Below is a map of where smoke has spread across most of the nation.

Most of the smoke is elevated high up in the atmosphere, as most of the transport is aided by strong jet stream winds aloft. Because the smoke is so high in the atmosphere, air quality near the surface typically doesn't take a hit in mid-Missouri.

Scenes like these could be common over the next several weeks as fires are expected to continue to burn. Little rain relief is in sight for the west coast, and as early as the middle of this week we could see more smoke in mid-Missouri.

A cold front Thursday would usher that in.

-Luke