Some Front Range Residents Find Ash From Colorado Wildfires On Cars Friday Morning

From CBS Denver:

By Chris Spears

August 14, 2020

DENVER (CBS4) – Heavy wildfire smoke settled along Colorado’s Front Range early Friday morning leaving fine particles of ash on surfaces such as cars and hot tub covers. Reports of fine ash particles have come from Mead, Boulder, Broomfield, Arvada and Aurora.

While it’s not possible to say which of the three major fires burning in Colorado provided the ash there is a chance it traveled up to 300 miles to reach the Front Range. The Pine Gulch Fire north of Grand Junction was producing the highest volume of smoke while the Cameron Peak Fire’s smoke plume is the closest to Denver. Smoke from the Grizzly Creek Fire is also mixed into the air.

To understand why smoke is typically so bad during the early morning hours and how ash particles can land on surfaces you need a quick lesson in how the air circulates within the lowest part of the atmosphere. We are talking about the troposphere, which is where we live and where all weather happens.

Read more at CBS Denver