That smoke in New Mexicans' eyes isn't leaving yet.

Smoke from the two massive wildfires burning in eastern Arizona — some 200 miles from Santa Fe — will continue to send a gray plume into the Land of Enchantment, with the haze settling into central New Mexico each evening for the next couple of days.

The smoke is likely to worsen in Santa Fe, Albuquerque and the Rio Grande Valley over the next couple of days from the Wallow Fire as the plume shifts east, said Mark Fetting, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque. Visibility in some areas, especially close to the New Mexico-Arizona border, was expected to be less than a mile because of the haze.

Breezy to windy conditions are expected through the rest of the week. And the moisture outlook is "pathetic," meteorologist Daniel Porter said.

Fire conditions prompted Santa Fe National Forest and Valles Caldera National Preserve officials to announce a ban on chain saws, open campfires and smoking outside of vehicles or buildings beginning Friday.

The number and size of fires in the region prompted national fire managers to place the Southwest, including New Mexico, into Stage 5 fire preparedness, the highest level. Stage 5 means all the fire resources — firefighters, air support and dispatchers — in New Mexico, Arizona and West Texas are "fully committed." Fire behavior is expected to be extreme, and there are multiple risks to human life and property. It is only the second time in the last seven years that fire conditions have reached that stage.

The smoke plumes from the Wallow and Horseshoe 2 wildfires in Arizona created their own thunderstorms clouds called pyrocumulus. Those clouds and others over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which aren't related to fires, resulted in more than 1,500 lightning strikes in south-central New Mexico, according to meteorologists.

Both massive wildfires burning in Arizona were human-caused, but the exact method of ignition remains under investigation.

More than 2,300 firefighting personnel, including 22 helicopters, are involved in the effort to control the 233,522-acre Wallow Fire near Alpine, Ariz. The fire is now the third largest in recorded Arizona wildfire history. It was zero percent contained on Monday.

The Horseshoe 2 Fire that started May 8 near Portal, Ariz., had scorched more than 107,000 acres by Monday. Full containment isn't expected until June 22. More than 1,000 firefighting personnel are involved, and the cost of fighting the fire has surpassed $27 million.

People with respiratory illnesses, young children and the elderly are advised to stay indoors when the smoke is heavy and to avoid using swamp coolers, which draw the particulates indoors. People also should avoid using candles, fireplaces, gas stoves or anything else that burns when smoke levels are high.

Meanwhile, the city of Santa Fe's two municipal reservoirs are at less than 45 percent capacity compared to 95 percent capacity this time last year.

The city had hoped to allow 0.15 cubic feet per second of water flow through the reservoirs into the Santa Fe River. So far, a tiny dribble of only .02 cubic feet per second has been allowed through.

Santa Feans have remained conservative with water use despite the heat and aridity. The daily usage over the weekend was less than 300,000 gallons of water, compared to half a million gallons last year.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.

ARIZONA BLAZES BY THE NUMBERS

• 2,300 number of fire personnel battling the Wallow Fire in east-central Arizona

• 230,000 number of acres the fire has burned

• 365 square miles that have burned

• 3,000 number of people who have fled their homes near the Wallow Fire

• 0% Wallow Fire containment

• 107,000 number of acres burned by the Horseshoe 2 Fire in southeastern Arizona

• 1,000 number of firefighters battling that blaze

• $27M cost of fighting Horseshoe 2