Smoke?

Another fire season is about over, and once again we've escaped big problems here at Crystal.  Even so, autumn is when it's possible to see smoke from many small fires all around the landscape.   Aside from marking actual lift, smoke is an easy-to-see indicator of local wind direction, and can be very informative.  For example, it is common to see plumes only a short distance apart lofting in different, or even opposite directions.  Where two plumes point toward each other the air between them probably is rising, and if they are close together there is high likelihood of a thermal.  When plumes point away from each other (especially if they're hugging the ground) that warns of sink.  If you see one plume downwind of a large hill pointing opposite the direction of a prevailing wind or other plumes, it is an almost certain sign of rotor activity – which is reason enough to look for wave or lee-side thermals.