Apr 06, 2012
The Milwaukee Brewers concluded their Opening Day loss at Miller Park that included a large column of black smoke that rose into the sky east of the stadium. At times, the smoke resembled a tornado or a volcano over the city. The smoke came from Miller Compressing, where a large fire was ignited from a pile of scrap metal.
The smoke had a hard time rising straight up into the sky due to a warm layer above the surface known as a temperature inversion. The surface wind had become easterly that brought cooler surface air from Lake Michigan that undercut the warmer air aloft. The Milwaukee Airport had a 6:00 P.M. temperature of 37 degrees. A couple of thousand feet above the ground, the temperatures hovered around 39 - 41 degrees for most of the late afternoon hours. When warmer air sits on top of colder air, the air will no longer rise. Combine this with a large plume of smoke rising from the ground, the pollution will hit this layer above and then blanket out across the sky.
I was able to attend the game and snap some photos of the smoke. The easterly wind pushed the smoke right into the direction of Brewer fans at Miller Park. I'm sure many will feel irritation in their lungs for the weekend.
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