Prescribed burn in Jemez Mountains spreads smoke to nearby areas

Jonathan Fjeld, Meteorologist Kira Miner | KOB

Prescribed burn spreads smoke to nearby areas

A prescribed burn in the Jemez area prompted an air quality alert Friday morning for parts of New Mexico. They burned 700 acres Thursday and have around 1,000 more acres to get through over the next few days.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — You can expect to see more smoke coming from the direction of the Jemez Mountains as crews work on the North Joaquin Prescribed Fire project.

That smoke rolled into the Albuquerque metro Friday morning, likely causing you to cough or clear your throat, and officials to prompt an air quality alert until 11 a.m.

Santa Fe National Forest crews burned around 700 acres Thursday in an area about six miles west of Jemez Springs and three miles south of the Rancho de Chaparral Girl Scout Camp.

There are around 1,000 acres left to burn. Crews will keep burning through Saturday, then transition to securing and holding the fire within the lines.

In the meantime, they will temporarily close forest roads in the area. They expect the project to last five days.

What does the weather look like for these burns? Meteorologist Kira Miner has a look at that in her full forecast:

Kira Miner: Midday Forecast | Sept. 27, 2024

Aside from smoke impacting air quality Friday morning, we're having a pretty nice day in New Mexico. See the latest conditions at KOB.com/Weather.

Meteorologist Kira Miner shares all the details in her full forecast in the video above.

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