Wildfire smoke live tracker: Smoke plume forecast maps, air quality readings and more

02:16

Wildfires scorch the West as hot, dry summer weather fuels the flames

Several out-of-control wildfires are burning across the West, forcing local evacuations and keeping firefighters busy as smoke pours across the region and begins to push east. 

Hundreds of wildfires burning across the western U.S. and Canada are spewing dense smoke that is being carried hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away through the Plains and Midwest, all the way to the Northeast.

The smoke is, at best, leading to hazy skies across wide swaths of the nation and, at worst, degrading air quality.

What are the current air quality levels?

The air quality index (AQI) ranges from 0 to 500 and has six color-coded categories corresponding to a different level of health concern. Lower numbers equate to better air quality, and higher numbers equate to poorer air quality. 

Anything red or worse on the map below denotes at least unhealthy air quality, with purples denoting very unhealthy conditions and maroon indicating hazardous air quality that should relegate everyone to stay indoors as much as possible.

WHAT IS THE AIR QUALITY INDEX?

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Which cities have the top-5 worst air quality readings?

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Where are the current air quality alerts?

Find specific information on the alerts through the National Weather Service's current warnings and advisory page.

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What is the smoke forecast?

Here are the latest computer projections of where the smoke is expected to blow next:

Full continental US:

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Northwest smoke forecast:

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Southwest smoke plume forecast:

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Midwest smoke plume forecast:

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Southern Plains smoke plume forecast:

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Northeast smoke plume forecast:

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Southeast smoke plume forecast:

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Florida smoke plume forecast:

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What does the air quality index mean?

A regular assessment of air quality in the U.S. started in 1976, about six years after the Environmental Protection Agency was created.

According to AirNow.gov, the law requires any metropolitan area with a population of more than 350,000 to report air quality daily.

The air quality index (AQI) as we know it today was released in 1999, according to AirNow.gov. It has gone through several updates over the years, but the goal has always been the same – to offer people an easy-to-understand daily report about the air they’re breathing and indicate what air quality is dangerous.

With the fires showing no signs of stopping across the West, there will continue to be bouts of smoke sent east in the coming days and weeks.

OVER A DOZEN HOMES SCORCHED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE SPARKED BY FIREWORKS

Nearly 90 fires are burning across the West that have scorched at least 100 acres, with nearly 22,000 firefighters battling the blazes.