Smoke from Wildfires Blankets Parts of the West

Thick smoke from wildfires burning to the west blankets parts of Montana, as seen in this image captured by NASA's Terra satellite. (Source: NASA Worldview) Nationally, 39 large fires are burning in nine states from Alaska to Arizona. Collectively, they've burned more than three quarters of a million acres. Although it sounds dire — and it has been for individual communities that have been affected — the wildfire activity is about average for this time of year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Even so, that's a lot of fire. And smoke. I've noticed the latter here on the eastern slope of the Rockies near Boulder — a thin scrim of haze that has turned the sunlight much more golden than we're used to in Colorado. And given the image from NASA's Terra satellite at the top of this post, people in of Montana, particularly the northeast portion of ...