Colorado Weather: The Horrible Haze Expected To Get Worse

DENVER(CBS)- For most of the summer we have had a stubborn high pressure ridge waffling back and forth across the southwestern part of the nation.

Thursday the center of this ridge is in the perfect position to push a stronger pipeline of wildfire smoke into Colorado and most of the Rocky Mountain region.

For Denver and the Front Range smoke will range from Moderate to Thick during the course of the day.

As a result, there is an Air Quality Alert again in place for the entire Front Range including Fort Collins down thru Denver on to Colorado Springs for high ozone levels and fine particulate matter brought in by the increase of wildfire smoke. This is the 31st day in a row an Air Quality Alert has been in place for the Denver metro area.

A cold front will be sliding thru the state overnight Friday into Saturday this will briefly thin out the smoke Friday afternoon. Overnight Friday into the weekend another surge of thick smoke will push in. Plan on a hot and smoky finish to the weekend ahead.