Local time-series measurements of carbon monoxide mole fraction have been made in aturbulent CO diffusion flame. Two types of intrusive miniature optical probes, combined with tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy, have been employed to give temporal resolution of approximately .5 ms and spatial resolution of .5 to 2 cm. One probe guides laser light to an absorption path of varying length located in the flame. The second probe is a sampling probe in which gases extracted from the flame are analyzed in an in-line absorption cell. Measurements have been made at several axial and radial locations downstream of the fuel nozzle, in both flame gases and a cold jet of CO, each with Reynolds number of 1.2×104. The data have been analyzed to provide statistical quantities, including probability density functions, and spectral information in the form of power spectra and autocorrelations. These results demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the two probe techniques and allow useful comparisons between the cold and combusting flows.