Sleeping With Windows Open Not Advised Next Several Nights Along Colorado's Front Range

DENVER (CBS4) - If you sleep with your windows open at night then chances are when you woke up Friday morning it smelled a bit smoky in your home. You may have even had watery eyes and a scratchy throat.

By sunrise on Friday thick plumes of wildfire smoke had settled across Colorado's Front Range. Unfortunately with little change in the current weather pattern we could see more of the same over the next several days.

Wildfire smoke settles near the ground at night because of how the lower part of Earth's atmosphere cools. With the loss of daytime heating the air becomes calm and stable by sunrise the next day. This allows pollutants to settle near the ground as we saw with the wildfire smoke Friday morning.

During the day as the surface is heated by the sun the air near the ground begins to churn, mixing with the air above. This process is called convection. And while a pollutant like wildfire smoke is still present during the day the concentration near the ground is usually less than it is during the early morning hours.

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