If you’ve experienced excessive labored breathing, an itchy throat, coughing, or stinging around the eyes—it’s not just allergies; it’s the layer of thick smoke surrounding the Tooele Valley. Temperature inversions are “caused by the meteorological conditions that reverse the normal atmospheric temperature gradient, creating a layer of warm air above a layer of cool air. The warm air acts as a lid, trapping smoke and pollutants near the ground.” Smoke particles block incoming solar radiation, cooling the surface air, which strengthens the inversion and traps even more smoke, otherwise known as Smoke Feedback Loops. So although we may not always see the wildfires from our windows, we feel their impact through the looming reminder of their smoke.