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SALT LAKE CITY — Poor air quality has risen to unhealthy levels across parts of Utah on Wednesday, but relief could quickly be in sight.
The latest wave of smoke is coming from wildfires in Oregon and Idaho courtesy of another shift in weather patterns. National Weather Service meteorologists say a weak and mostly dry cold front passed through northern Utah and southwest Wyoming, allowing smoke to waft back into Utah from Idaho after a monsoonal pattern blocked smoke from entering the state.
Models show most of the smoke appears to be coming from wildfires in Boise National Forest, including the lightning-caused Wapiti Fire that has burned 110,000 acres and remains just 4% contained. The National Interagency Fire Center notes that it's one of multiple active fires burning in the national forest northeast of Boise.
The Utah Division of Air Quality reported Wednesday afternoon that air quality had reached unhealthy (red) levels in at least Salt Lake and Tooele counties, as smoke shrouded the view of mountains with its thick haze.
"Persons with existing heart or respiratory ailments should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activity," the agency wrote.
Red and orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) air quality levels were reported across KSL Air Quality Network sites in Box Elder, Davis, Cache, Morgan, Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties. IQAir reported that, at 1 p.m., Salt Lake City's 148 air quality index was the fifth-highest among the 119 cities across the world it tracks. It has bounced around the top five with cities like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Nairobi, Kenya; and Doha, Qatar.
The thick smoke is expected to reach as far south as central Utah throughout the day, according to KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.
However, another shift in the weather pattern is expected to thin out most of the smoke. A high-pressure system west of Utah will help produce a northwest flow on Thursday to send most of the smoke west of Utah by Thursday evening. KSL meteorologist Devan Masciulli adds that some downslope winds are likely with the eastern winds in northern Utah, but it is not expected to produce severe wind gusts.
Thick smoke is not in the forecast for the rest of the week.
"Air quality should improve by (Thursday) afternoon and evening," Johnson said. "It's nasty out there right now but it will start to clear ... and that's not always the case."
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online, at the KSL Weather Center.
