As smoke from west coast wildfires move across the Wasatch Front, smoke concentrations will become very noticeable as the day goes on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. IQAir, the “world’s largest free real-time air quality information platform,” according to its website, has Salt Lake City currently listed as the worst major city for air quality on the planet in its live city rankings.
Most views of the city usually fall against the backdrop of the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountain ranges, but today, smoke is hiding those peaks. Some departments, like Centerville Police, have received calls about the smoke — but the cause is not due to any local fires.
Clearer conditions are expected Saturday.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The California and Oregon fires are carried into the state by the jet stream as smoke fills the Salt Lake Valley obscuring the sky on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Smokey skies from wild fires in California, Oregon and Washington, effect the visibility and air quality in Salt Lake City, on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Heavy smoke from wildfires in the Western U.S. descend on the Salt Lake Valley, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The California and Oregon fires are carried into the state by the jet stream as smoke fills the Salt Lake Valley obscuring the sky on Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Heavy smoke from wildfires in the Western U.S. descend on the Salt Lake Valley, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021.
