Friday July 18, 2014 - Smoke and Haze covering much of North America

Much of the North American continent has smoke overhead.  So far, California is staying relatively clean, with only thin smoke aloft.  Some plumes are showing up from Nevada as well, and haze from those fires is evident on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and in Northern CA.

Thunderstorms associated with this easterly flow and monsoonal moisture have been scavenging this smoke from the air in the afternoons, preventing build-up of the smoke in the air from day to day, but unfortunately the thunderstorms may also start new fires.