Wildfire smoke prompts air quality alerts in Denver

Smoke from out-of-state fires will continue to choke Colorado through at least Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

The smoke, moving into Colorado from wildfires burning in Wyoming and Idaho, prompted multiple air quality warnings across the Front Range and Eastern Plains on Tuesday.

NWS forecasters issued an Air Quality Alert for Douglas, Jefferson, Denver, Arapahoe, Adams, Broomfield, Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties from 4 p.m. Monday to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Around 7 a.m., forecasters issued a second Air Quality Alert for Sedgwick, Logan, Phillips, Morgan, Yuma, Washington, Kit Carson, Lincoln and Cheyenne counties in northeastern Colorado. The alert is active from 7 a.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Areas near Littleton, Colorado Springs and Aurora reported AQIs of around 105 and Parker saw AQIs of nearly 120, according to AirNow’s fire and smoke map Tuesday morning.

To the east, both Fort Morgan and Sterling reported AQIs of 105 on Tuesday morning and Hugo, a town in Lincoln County, reported an AQI of nearly 120, according to the map.

The AQI measuring system reports daily levels of air pollution. Generally, AQIs of:

• Zero to 50 indicate good air quality;
• 51 to 100 indicate moderate air quality;
• 101 to 150 indicate air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups;
• 151 to 200 indicate unhealthy air quality for the general population;
• 201 to 300 indicate very unhealthy air quality;
• 301 and above indicate hazardous air quality.