KIOWA, Kan. (AP) — Smoke from wildfires in Oklahoma and Kansas has drifted hundreds of miles.

The National Weather Service says the smoke has been detected as far away as Springfield, Missouri, about 290 miles to the east, and in St. Louis, about 460 miles to the northeast of the fires.

Springfield meteorologist Mark Burchfield says the smell of smoke was “pretty strong” as he was leaving for work Thursday morning.

St. Louis meteorologist Mark Britt says the weather service posted on social media advising of the smoke.

The strong winds that are blowing the smoke also are complicating efforts to fight the fires that have consumed more than 600 square miles of largely rural land along the Kansas-Oklahoma border since Wednesday.