Smoke From Bootleg Fire Causing Bad Air and Wild Sunsets in Iowa

The nation's Bootleg Fire is continuing to grow. While it's the biggest, it's also at least 80 large fires in 13 states. The smoke can be seen across the country, including Iowa. Government officials have been tracking the air quality, which has continued to worsen for some areas this week.

Typically, upper-level wildfire smoke stays, well, in the upper-levels of the atmosphere. This time, because the conditions have been just right, the smoke has mixed with lower levels of the atmosphere.

Obviously, smoke in the air leads to poor air quality, so keep an eye on the forecast. Today in the Quad Cities, the air quality is rated at "Unhealthy for sensitive groups," according to AirNow.gov.

AirNow.gov's map shows the thickness of the smoke, and you can see the jet streams carrying the smoke from the fires out west, up through Canada, and down straight through our listening area.

AirNow.gov

Some listeners sent us their photos of the sun through the haze of the smoke, giving it a red color.

Michael McGuinty

Justin Taylor

Christina Rogers

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LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.