https://www.boulderweather.com/categories/air-quality/Recent content in Air Quality on BoulderWeather.comHugo -- gohugo.ioenBoulderweather.comThu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.boulderweather.com/post/wildfire-smoke-air-quality-boulder/Thu, 25 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.boulderweather.com/post/wildfire-smoke-air-quality-boulder/ <h2 id="by-mid-summer-smoke-becomes-the-front-ranges-most-common-air-quality-problem">By Mid-Summer, Smoke Becomes the Front Range's Most Common Air-Quality Problem</h2> <p><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1012089347386563" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1012089347386563" data-ad-slot="1011306739" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> From roughly July through September, the clearest blue skies Boulder is famous for can turn milky and brown within hours as wildfire smoke drifts in from fires that may be hundreds of miles away. Smoke season has become an annual fixture of Front Range summers, layered on top of the region's older summertime ozone problem, and it now drives more bad-air days in Boulder than any other single cause. Understanding when it arrives, where it comes from, and how to read the numbers is the difference between guessing and planning — especially for the runners, cyclists, and hikers who make outdoor activity central to life here.</p>