A Smoky Fall Day?

If you spent much time outside today, you might have noticed a hint of smoke in the air. If so, you aren't going crazy, and your nose isn't failing. It really is smoky outside!

The ongoing drought combined with the natural progression of Fall is contributing to plenty of very dry small fuels (leaf litter, dried brush, etc). Any fire that starts can become a wildfire under these conditions. Below is a looped visible satellite image of wildfires and smoke over central and eastern Kentucky today. If you look closely, you can see the faint thin wisps of smoke heading north. Don't mistake the brighter white wisps coming from the southwest, these are mid level clouds. Also, you can spot the origins of the smoke over far eastern Kentucky, far eastern Tennessee, far western North Carolina, and extreme northern Georgia. These are actual ongoing wildfires!

The still image below better highlights the actual wildfires, and where the smoke is originating.

The still image below better highlights where the smoke is visible.

You might wonder if meteorologists can attempt to predict where smoke might travel? The answer is yes! Using modeled wind direction and speed trajectories out through time, you can get a good idea of where smoke will travel and how concentrated it might be. Below is a real model depiction of today's events that runs from 1 AM early this morning to 3 AM early Tuesday morning. Notice the thicker concentration of smoke that traveled up from the south through the Louisville, Frankfort, and Lexington metro areas. We received a lot of reports of smoke from folks in these areas today. The smoke even reduced visibility at the Lexington Bluegrass airport! It is interesting to note that our smoke actually came from the Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia fires.