There's Something In The Air Today in Amarillo, It Ain't Herford

There's nothing like a nice cool front in the summer here in Amarillo. Yep, it brings a good bit of rain and brings the temperature down a few degrees, but with the wind switch comes something else, smoke. Here's where all of it is coming from

Get our free mobile app

Wildfires

Getty Images

It's been an unusually cool summer for us here in Amarillo, and that's a good thing. The lower temperatures and decent rainfall have kept grassfires at bay. On the other side of the coin, the Pacific Northwest and Rockies have seen record-breaking temperatures. Now, when you have a lot of forest land get baked in heat, you've got yourself an active wildfire season

So What? That's Not Here Right?

Well, thing is....smoke from wildfires can travel a good distance with stiff winds. In 2010, the smoke from the Little Bear Fire in New Mexico's Sacramento Mountains travelled east and settled over the Texas Panhandle. A wind change can help knock the smoke out of the atmosphere. For example, with today's smoke we would need a southern wind to blow it back north.

Because of the smoke if you happen to have respiratory issues, it might not be a bad idea to stay indoors and limit your outdoor activities. If you want to track the smoke in real time the folks over at Air Now which tracks the US Air Quality index have a pretty neat map that shows where all the fires and plumes are.

Amarillo Landmarks: Negative Yelp Reviews

Yelp can be a strange and angry place. That's what I found out recently when I decided to sort the reviews by "lowest rating" first.

I was okay with the people upset over bad service and what not. But I came across a few reviews that, for lack of a better word, left me speechless in their scathing negative reviews on some of Amarillo's most iconic places. Prepare your self for plenty of head shaking and "I dunno" shrugs.

Naughty Nicknames for 21 Texas Towns

Texans simply do not hold back when it comes to nicknames, so here's a warning now if you have delicate sensibilities. Some of these names are pretty brutal, perhaps undeserving. Others, well...they walked right into it.