After the forest fire, smoke and haze filled the air.
Tips
memory
烟 (yān) = 'smoke', 霾 (mái) = 'haze / dust-fog' (the same 霾 in 雾霾 wùmái 'smog'). Stack the two: 'smoke + haze' = the murky atmosphere of fires or industry. The 雨 radical at the top of 霾 places it among weather phenomena (雨 'rain', 雪 'snow', 雾 'fog').
register
Literary or news-register. Modern air-quality reporting almost always uses 雾霾 (wùmái, 'fog-haze') for general urban smog, while 烟霾 carries specifically the 'smoke' connotation - wildfires, slash-and-burn farming, industrial fumes.
