Wildfire Smoke Threatens AirVenture Oshkosh Arrivals

Overview

• Smoke from hundreds of Canadian fires has cut visibility around Oshkosh and produced hazardous air quality readings that reached an AQI of 414 in local monitors.
• The FAA activated special AirVenture procedures on July 16 that restrict IFR traffic, require reservations for some arrivals, and advise pilots to expect diversions to Fond du Lac, Appleton or Green Bay.
• Air-traffic controllers and the National Weather Service warned pilots that the VFR arrival routes through Ripon and Fisk depend on visual contact and that pop-up IFR clearances may not be available during heavy traffic.
• Pilots are being urged to get full weather briefings, review NOTAMs, file contingency plans, and make conservative go/no-go decisions because visibility can fall from light haze to IFR-producing smoke quickly.
• Short-range forecasts show a likely brief improvement as winds shift but longer-range smoke movement is uncertain, which could still force changes to mass-arrival windows and affect pilots’ ground plans and travel schedules.