(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — Several large and dangerous wildfires are continuing to burn across portions of the Pacific Northwest and Wyoming. Current smoke analysis points to a few of those hot spots which can be seen with the bright green, almost white, coloring above. Here locally, we're starting to see just the smallest amount of haze. The smoke is strongest up near Wyoming and the Dakotas, but portions of Colorado have managed to pull in a small part of that. One of the most prominent and nearby fires is the Elk Fire located on the north end of the Bighorn National Forest. It is currently burning right along the Montana and Wyoming border. Latest reports indicate that the fire has consumed nearly 50,000 acres with zero percent containment. Several lightning strikes were noted in the area on September 27th when the fire was first reported. Therefore, currently, the cause of the fire is considered to be lightning. The bright pink colors from our future-cast smoke scan show just how much smoke some of those fires are putting out right now. The darker reds located over Southern Colorado indicate a small amount of smoke present. By Friday, Oct.4 afternoon and evening, the light haze will begin to clear out of the region as our jetstream carries the most intense smoke further east. At the same time, Southern Colorado is expected to see an uptick in its own fire weather concerns heading into the weekend.