Gorgeous Weather In Vermont, But Wildfire Smoke Aloft Dimming Sun A Bit

Visible satellite shot of the Northeast this afternoon.
Notice Vermont and surrounding areas look blurry
compared to other areas, like Maryland and Virginia
in the lower left hand corner of the image. That 
blurriness is smoke aloft from western wildfires.

 A lot of you probably noticed that the sun wasn't as bright as it could possibly be this Friday afternoon.  

The light also had sort of a brassy hue, and the sky was not a deep blue. Instead it was a blah light blue, with hints of gray. Or it looked like a high, thin overcast, except sort of tan instead of the white we associate with those high clouds. 

That's wildfire smoke from out west.  The smoke drifting cross country from these big fires has become in recent years an annual "tradition."  Up until now, the smoky days in New England this summer have been few and far between.

But an unprecedented heat wave this past week in the western third of the nation has changed that big time. The smoke aloft has infiltrated the skies over much of the nation. 

Luckily, the key word in this is aloft. Air quality down here where we have to breathe is still pretty darn good.  Notice if you look at the distant mountains, they don't look that hazy, even if the sky overhead is a mess. 

If the air quality index is under 50, you really don't have anything to worry about.  Friday afternoon, in most of Vermont, the index was in the low 30s. As the smoke above stays thick,  later today, overnight and part of tomorrow, the air quality might deteriorate a little, but won't get that bad. 

As it is, the smoke overhead seemed to be thickest over Vermont at mid-afternoon, compared to surrounding areas.

You will notice an odd, but lovely sunset this evening.  If the smoke high above us stays as thick as it was at mid afternoon, the sun will turn a deep blood red as it sinks toward the horizon. It'll probably turn into a red ball that you can even look at without hurting your eyes. Perhaps it will disappear altogether before slipping below the horizon. 

The amount of smoke in the atmosphere above us will wax and wane over the next few days, depending upon where a rather complex national weather pattern takes it.