Smoke from Canada turns the sky over Bavaria milky gray!

Smoke from Canada turns the sky over Bavaria milky gray!

In the past few days, a milky-gray sky dominated the picture over Bavaria, which made many people miss the usual blue sight. The sun and moon shone down in bright orange and red tones. The reason for these unusual play of colors are severe forest fires far away in Canada, as BR.de reports. These fires, particularly in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, caused more than 200 fires in late May and early June. The rising smoke found its way to Bavaria through westerly winds.

A look at the weather maps clearly shows: A west to northwest flow carried the smoke-laden air mass over long distances to Europe. Particularly at altitudes between five and six kilometers the particle concentration was highest before falling to two to three kilometers at lower levels. Despite regional and short-term increases in fine dust pollution in Bavaria, it is also expected that part of the ash cloud was washed away by rain. However, larger parts have moved further towards Eastern Europe.

A milky veil over Germany

The German Weather Service (DWD) is keeping a close eye on the situation. A cloud of smoke has been visible over Germany since the beginning of the week and has also reached parts of France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. The DWD has located this “milky veil” over several hundred kilometers, which did not descend completely on Europe at the same time, as Süddeutsche.de explains. Satellite images from the EU Earth observation program Copernicus confirm the extent of this phenomenon and show how the smoke has been covering the Alpine region since Monday.

However, the impact on air quality near the ground is estimated to be small. While the days appear cloudier and the sunsets shine in impressive red and orange, the DWD does not expect the smoke to be completely cleared in the Alpine region in the short term. Apart from that, with the coming southwesterly winds, Saharan dust could also make its way to us, although in a significantly lower density than the smoke from Canada.

A ray of hope?

Over the next few days the wind is expected to shift from northwest to southwest, bringing warmer weather and better visibility. The sky could soon return to its usual blue color, although it could become hazier again towards the weekend. The current weather situation remains exciting: While Bavaria can look forward to days flooded with light, the signs for the weather in the near future point to changeability. It will be interesting to see whether the clouds will soon disappear again or whether the milky veil will stay with us for a while.