Unhealthy, smoky air on Sunday with more on the way

Denver’s weather forecast Sunday is smoke, smoke and more smoke.

The city’s air quality was the second-worst in the world Sunday morning — behind Krasnoyarsk, Russia, according to IQAir’s world air quality rankings — as wildfire smoke from California moved in and set up camp across the Front Range this weekend.

“A lot of the thicker smoke has settled into our plains and valleys right now; the higher peaks are peeking out of it right now,” said Caitlyn Mensch, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service at Boulder. “There is not a lot of wind to move it around.”

The air quality on the Front Range will waver between unhealthy for everyone and unhealthy for sensitive groups Sunday, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, both because of ozone levels and fine particulates. That means older adults, children and people with respiratory conditions, like asthma, should stay inside as much as possible.

The rest of Front Range residents should reduce “prolonged or heavy exertion” outside Sunday, the state’s public health agency warned.

Here’s the 6pm (8/7) update of the model smoke forecast. The model actually shows the smoke decreasing near the Denver area substantially by Sunday afternoon although we fear it may be a bit too optimistic. A return to thicker smoke is expected Monday. #COwx pic.twitter.com/UaShNryXjS

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) August 8, 2021

The urban corridor might see a slight reduction in wildfire smoke Sunday evening, Mensch said, but it won’t last long — a new band of smoke is likely to be pushed into the region on Monday.