Smoke Gets In Your Sky

The blue of a dry western sky can be breathtaking. But just after winters overcast gives way to clear and deep blue, an insidious menace begins to turn the blue skies white: smoke from the summer fire season. If the national news is covering numerous large western fires, anybody planning a flight in the western U.S. between July and October needs to be prepared to factor smoke into their pre-flight briefings. Check the fire map, or at least glance at the distribution of forest-fire TFRs.

Mike Hart

Monday, August 24, 2015 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Wildfire smoke is an often-overlooked yet significant aviation hazard, capable of rapidly degrading visibility to IMC conditions even under clear skies, which can lead to pilot disorientation.
Smoke impacts can be widespread regionally or localized by terrain features like valley inversions, and beyond reduced visibility, they can bring unexpected dangers such as severe turbulence, downdrafts, and heat.
Pilots must actively factor smoke into pre-flight planning by checking fire maps and TFRs, as traditional weather tools often neglect it, and maintaining IFR currency is crucial for safely navigating these challenging conditions.

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The blue of a dry western sky can be breathtaking. But just after winter’s overcast gives way to clear and deep blue, an insidious menace begins to turn the blue skies white: smoke from the summer fire season. If the national news is covering numerous large western fires, anybody planning a flight in the western U.S. between July and October needs to be prepared to factor smoke into their pre-flight briefings. Check the fire map, or at least glance at the distribution of forest-fire TFRs.

While it’s hard to find NTSB reports singling out smoke outside the cockpit as a significant safety factor, my experience seeing the outflow from major fires turn perfectly good VFR flying weather into IMC says otherwise. Sometimes it is a regional phenomena. Other times it is quite localized. No matter what, it always has an impact on my aeronautical decision-making.