The sun is barely visible over downtown Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, as seen through smoke from wildfires burning in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland. The growing blaze east of Portland, Oregon, in the scenic Columbia River Gorge, was one of dozens of wildfires burning in western U.S. states that sent smoke into cities from Seattle to Denver. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)
September 8, 2017
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September 8, 2017 3:20 p.m.
The West had a snowy winter, so why the fiery summer?
DENVER — Acrid yellow smoke clogs the skies of major Western U.S. cities, a human-caused fire in the Columbia River Gorge rains ash on Portland, Oregon, and a century-old backcountry chalet burns to the ground in Montana’s Glacier National Park.