Why is it so hazy? Smoke from California, Colorado and northern New Mexico fires

LAS CRUCES – You may have noticed a haze over the Mesilla Valley lately.

Representatives from the National Weather Service said the smoke is coming from the countless wildfires in the southwest region of the country, specifically California, Colorado and in New Mexico north of Las Cruces.

Laren Reynolds with the National Weather Service out of Santa Teresa said the smoke plume is expected to continue through the week. She explained that the smoke is going around an area of high pressure near Las Cruces and is filtering the smoke into the area. The high-pressure system is expected to move northeast toward the Four Corners during the week, but Reynolds said it is unclear how much the haze will improve.

“Our short-term models are showing that we will be under the influence for the next 12 to 18 hours. They don’t really go out farther than that and part of the reason is because we don’t know if the fires will be more contained,” Reynolds said about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. 

The New Mexico Environment Department’s air quality map lists the area’s Air Quality Index (AQI) in the “Good” range as of Aug. 25. Good ranges between 0 and 50, while moderate ranges from 51 to 100. The Good level means the air pollution poses little or no risk to the public. The Moderate level means there might be a risk for some people, especially those sensitive to air pollution.

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The station located at the New Mexico Environment Department office near Walton Boulevard reported an Air Quality Index of 41 at 8 a.m. Tuesday. The location off of Solano Drive reported an AQI of 39 at the same time. Sites near Holman Road, Chaparral, La Union, Desert View and Santa Teresa report AQIs ranging in the 20s and 30s. However, the sites near the West Mesa and Anthony, New Mexico represent opposite ends of the spectrum, reporting AQIs of 11 and 50, respectively.

“In general, since we are under like a broad area high pressure over us, we’ll continue to see smoke through the rest of the week,” Reynolds said. “Unfortunately, I can’t say with any certainty that we’re going to see like some massive improvements anytime soon.”

California firefighters have responded to more than 600 wildfires since thousands of lightning strikes began hitting the state on Aug. 15.

Four major blazes, all more than 10,000 acres in size, are burning across northwest Colorado.

The Medio Fire, northwest of Santa Fe, has scorched 2,400 acres with 5% containment as of Monday.

Leah Romero is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fund and can be reached at lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.