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SALT LAKE CITY — Smoke coming from wildfires burning throughout Utah and the west has blanketed a good chunk of Utah with haze for more than a week now.
It's hard to not notice the smoky skies: there is a slight campfire scent in the air and the smoke has made some of the state's beautiful scenery difficult to see.
In some places, such as Utah County, air quality dove into unhealthy levels by Thursday. In fact, it led to some athletic events in the county being canceled or placed indoors because it was just too dangerous otherwise.
In Salt Lake County, which has remained relatively untouched by wildfires thus far in the season, smoke has sifted through the valley, and air quality and visibility have dipped because of it.
So I went back to my photo archives to compare shots of some of Salt Lake City's more photogenic spots. I matched photos from the past few years with how they looked over the past week after the haze drifted in.
One thing is for sure: There has been a dramatic change to what you can and can't see in the dense haze.
600 North Bridge
The bridge on 600 North east of I-15 is one of the better spots to grab that iconic photo of the Salt Lake City skyline underneath the majestic Wasatch mountains. However, that doesn’t work as well on a smoky day.
Bonneville Boulevard
This is the road that connects the Avenues with East Capitol Boulevard, with a turnoff to City Creek Canyon along the way. It also offers motorists, bikers and runners a gorgeous view of the city and the valley on a clear day.
As you can see, the valley disappears and the Oquirrh Mountains aren't visible.
Capitol steps
One of the points of the Utah Capitol, when it was built, was to overlook Salt Lake City. As the city and valley have grown throughout the decades, that view has become greater. It’s also a great place to stare at mountains — on a clear air day.
KSL Building
Since the Triad Center has the tallest buildings in Salt Lake City west of 300 West, it provides a great view of the Oquirrh Mountains, planes arriving and departing into Salt Lake International Airport, Antelope Island and sunsets.
What that same view looks with the recent smoke:
Smith's Ballpark
The ballpark provides fans with one of the best backdrops in all of minor league baseball. On a clear day, fans can see Salt Lake's Wasatch Range, highlighted by Mount Olympus.
Tanner Park
The northwest end of Tanner Park, much like many other places across the valley, offers visitors a grand view of the Salt Lake City skyline with Antelope Island in the background. It’s a great place to watch a sunset.
The smoke here strips away the detail in the buildings and Antelope Island has nearly disappeared in the second shot — taken before air quality in the county took a larger drop Friday.
The bad news is poor air quality is forecasted Utah and Salt Lake counties again Sunday, according to KSL's Air Quality Network. It is rated as being moderately unhealthy to unhealthy for sensitive groups for the rest of northern Utah, and moderate for eastern and southern Utah counties.
It remains unknown when exactly the smoke will clear out.
