Where’s western Wyoming’s smokey skies coming from?

Smokey skies are blanketing much of western Wyoming, and it’s unlikely to let up.

Starting about a week ago, western Wyoming’s skies have been smokey. Local meteorologist Alan Smith said it’s mostly from wildfires in Oregon and Idaho. The largest Oregon fire is the Cow Valley fire in the eastern part of the state at 133,408 acres and 20 percent contained. One of the larger Idaho fires is the Bench Lake Incident fire that’s northeast of Boise and has burned 1,850 acres and is three percent contained.

Smith added that an unusually hot and dry summer isn’t helping contain these fires.

“Which has set the stage for these fires to grow and winds are blowing out of the West. And so it’s transporting the smoke directly into Wyoming,” Smith said.

And, when asked about if the rest of the summer will be smokey?

“It’s very possible, unfortunately,” Smith said.

He added that’s because he’s predicting more hot, dry and windy weather.

“It’s also going to remain hot and dry to the west of us so that could potentially even fuel new wildfires or it could allow the current fires to grow in intensity,” Smith said.

In Wyoming there isn’t much fire activity, yet. The Horse Creek fire in the Wyoming Range, about two miles northeast of the Blind Bull warming hut, is 43 acres and zero percent contained. Working the fire are 64 firefighters and one helicopter, according to a Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF) Service Facebook update.

“Because the fire is burning in a string of conifer trees on a steep slope, the plan is to confine and contain the fire and keep firefighters out of the snags while suppressing the fire. With rain and lightning in the forecast, crews remain active, but safety is the priority for firefighters,” according to the update.

Fire danger for BTNF remains high. For current wildfire status check here.

The air quality for western Wyoming is rated at ‘moderate’, which means unusually sensitive people shouldn’t limit their activities outside. For current smoke and air quality conditions check here.