Name: Smoke from West Coast fires reaches Illinois, turning sky a milky white
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Smoke from West Coast fires reaches Illinois, turning sky a milky white

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AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneSep 15, 2020 at 7:31 pmSmoke from fires rampaging on the West Coast wafted Sunday evening into the atmosphere above northern Illinois, turning the sky a shade of milky white and potentially making the week’s temperatures a bit cooler, forecasters said.The atmospheric effect comes from mega-wildfires burning significant land the last few days in Oregon, California and Washington state. At least 35 people have been killed, 24 in California alone, and thousands of others have lost their homes in the blazes, which have darkened West Coast skies with ash and smoke.AdvertisementIt’s not unusual for smoke from various regions to reach northern Illinois, especially from larger fires, according to Mark Ratzer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Chicago-area office.Smoke from fires hundreds of miles away can billow high into the atmosphere and get carried to other regions by jet streams and winds aloft, causing cloudier skies and slightly cooler temperatures. Mid- and upper-level winds were carrying smoke this week from the West and Northwest into the Chicago area, creating the same effect.Advertisement“It’s not that it’s affecting our air quality (at the) surface,” Ratzer said. “You’re not able to smell it or anything like that, but it has created kind of a smoke layer aloft which is keeping the sun rather dim.”It’s difficult to predict how long the smoke will linger above northern Illinois based on current models, Ratzer said. It could be here for a few days, though it may not remain as thick over time.The duration will be dependent on how long the fires out west last, forecasters said. The widespread nature of the smoke suggests the Chicago region’s upper-level atmosphere will remain at least slightly affected for several days to come.“There’s really not that much in the way of cloud cover over the area,” Ratzer said. “But if you look outside, it almost has the appearance of a real high, kind of faint overcast. It is kind of blocking some of the light of the sun.”That blockage could make temperatures a few degrees cooler, but it shouldn’t be cause for alarm, he added.“It’s not something we deal with too often here (but) it is something we see," Ratzer said. “Sometimes it’s more visible in the sunrise and sunset, (which) tends to be more reddish when you have the particulate up in the air there.”People in northern Illinois were able to see the disc of the Monday morning sun dimly lit from the smoke, he added. The smoke also drifted to the northern Indiana region as it blanketed a considerable swath of the Midwest.The weather service’s forecast shows temperatures hovering in the low- to mid-70s this week, with a slight chance for showers and a colder front late Wednesday.AdvertisementOverall, however, the area should remain dry and temperatures are forecast to warm back up heading into the end of the week, Ratzer said.For more on the forecast, check the Tribune’s . Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Chicago TribuneSep 15, 2020 at 7:31 pmSmoke from fires rampaging on the West Coast wafted Sunday evening into the atmosphere above northern Illinois, turning the sky a shade of milky white and potentially making the week’s temperatures a bit cooler, forecasters said.The atmospheric effect comes from mega-wildfires burning significant land the last few days in Oregon, California and Washington state. At least 35 people have been killed, 24 in California alone, and thousands of others have lost their homes in the blazes, which have darkened West Coast skies with ash and...

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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television are named), it remains the most-read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region. It had the 6th highest circulation for American newspapers in 2017.

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Smoke from West Coast fires reaches Illinois, turning sky a milky white

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