Tracking Smoke from the American Mesa Fire

With the wildfires come smoke. Strengthening wind is currently pushing smoke from the American Mesa Fire to the east, which may affect areas along the New Mexico-Colorado border and as far south as Dulce, Chama, Tres Piedras and Questa. Other fires are contributing, too: the Lake Fire near Navajo Lake, the Dry Fire on the San Juan National Forest and fires in northern Arizona. So far, it looks like this smoke will be lofted in the air, creating hazy skies but not affecting surface level air quality.

Other areas of New Mexico are receiving hazy skies caused by fires in southern New Mexico and southeast Arizona.

The Fire and Smoke map at is a good resource for smoke forecasts and current surface air quality data from monitors on the ground. You can also read special smoke outlook reports for areas with fires, including the current one.

To get a sense of the near real-time smoke movement, the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model from NOAA is a good reference. The vertically integrated smoke model looped on a map updates hourly and predicts smoke concentrations and general transport out to 18 hours in the future.

As always, check New Mexico Fire Information’s Smoke Management page for tips on protecting your health when and if smoke affects surface air quality.