50 Days With Bad Air: Denver Is On Track To Set A Record This Summer

DENVER (CBS4) - About 3 out of every 4 days so far this summer has included an Air Quality Alert along the Front Range. That is much worse than normal and puts Denver on track to set a record for bad air days.

Wednesday marks the fiftieth day since June 1 with an alert for poor air quality in the Denver metro area. The cause is a combination of wildfire smoke originating mainly in California and ozone which forms when the summer sun heats up pollution from vehicles, oil and gas production, and several other sources.

The record for Air Quality Alert Days was set in 2018 with 52 days. And with 20 days left in the season, Denver is guaranteed to break that record this summer.

One silver lining on Wednesday is that the alert has been scaled back to exclude southern Colorado after 5 days with a rare statewide alert.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) has also scaled back the severity of the bad air. After several days with unhealthy air for "everyone", the air on Wednesday is considered to be unhealthy for "sensitive groups" which includes young children, older adults, and anyone with a respiratory issue like asthma.

The worst of the smoke on Wednesday will likely be around Rocky Mountain National Park and east through Larimer and Weld Counties. That said, virtually everywhere in Colorado will be see more smoke.

Looking ahead to Thursday, there should be significantly less smoke in Colorado especially in the afternoon as a moisture plume coming from Arizona cuts off much of the smoke plume coming from California.

The increase in moisture on Thursday will also restore a chance for late day thunderstorms mainly in the mountains but a few late day story are also possible for Denver and the Front Range.