rjzimmerman:

Here in the Chicago area, the skies are fuzzy (not clear blue) and over the past few days I’ve been a marked increase in allergy-related crap (coughing, eyes itching and watering and by 10:00 at night, ready for every nasal remedy ever invented). These maps tell me why.

Excerpt:

The National Weather Service says smoke from the raging fires out West has impacted cities thousands of miles away — and the atmosphere above them. Residents in states like Missouri, Ohio, Mississippi, Virginia and even New York and Massachusetts can see the smoke manifest itself through grey skies and vibrant sunsets, the National Weather Service says. And those in fewer states throughout the Midwest, South and East Coast are breathing in air that has been impacted by the smoke as well.

But how exactly does smoke travel this far? Andy Edman, chief of the science technology infusion division at the National Weather Service, says small particles of smoke that come from the fires can stay in the air and move through the Earth’s atmosphere — all the way to the East Coast. The smoke sits more than a mile above the Earth’s surface, but can move down through strong winds called jet streams and have an impact on air quality.

The National Weather Service has two relevant maps that explores the issue. One shows the path of “vertically integrated smoke” — that is, the smoke that sits far above Earth’s surface in the atmosphere and impacts the sky you see above you.

The other map shows the movement of “near-surface smoke,” which, as its name suggests, shows the levels of smoke near the Earth’s surface that have an impact on air quality.

Smoke From California Wildfires Is Reaching the East Coast. Here’s What That Means for the Air Near You