Today the smoke is so dense that despite a weather forecast that says clear and cloudless, it is darker than a rainy winter day. What little light filters through has a sickly orange tint like the light from a sodium bulb street light. There's no immediate threat-- the smoke here has been coming from fires northwest of here today; we were getting smoke from Washington State yesterday. Nonetheless it creates an ominous feeling. And worse, for people with respiratory illness (including myself to some extent) it's a health hazard.
-k