8-13-14 Air Quality Report

Smoke Synopsis:
Many fire areas received between one quarter and one inch of rain yesterday.  In general this has reduced fire activity and will allow firefighters to be more aggressive today including using burnouts to strengthen containment lines.  The increased humidity will cause more smoldering and this along with planned burnouts could maintain a notable level of smoke generation.  Cloudy skies and poor mixing this afternoon could lead to smoke staying relatively close to the ground and in the valleys.  Winds will continue to be quite light. Yesterday's rain and wind helped disperse some smoke but information on new fire starts is still trickling in and may not appear for a few days. Any new fires will affect the smoke forecast.  Smoke will accumulate, flush out and accumulate again in several areas through Saturday. Smoke from fires outside the state may occasionally impact cities close to state borders to varying extents.
Air Quality Outlook:
Site	Wednesday August 13, 2014	Thursday August 14, 2014	Friday August 15, 2014	Comments
Colville	USG	Moderate	Moderate
Wellpinit	Moderate	USG	Moderate
Keller	USG	Unhealthy	Unhealthy
Omak	Moderate	USG	Moderate
Malott	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Brewster	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Winthrop	USG	Moderate	Moderate
Twisp	USG	Moderate	Moderate
Chelan	Moderate	Moderate	Good
Entiat	USG	USG	USG
Plain	Good	Good	Good
Leavenworth	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Wenatchee	USG	Moderate	Moderate
Ellensburg	USG	USG	USG
Yakima	Good	Good	Good
NOTE – in table above “USG” stands for “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” For detailed information about the color coded air quality categories, please see:  Washington Air Quality Advisory for Smoke and Other Fine Particle Air Pollution En Español:  El Índice de la Calidad de Aire de Washington para Humo y Otra Contaminación del Aire causadas por Partículas Finas
Warning: These data have been obtained from automated instruments and have not been subjected to a quality assurance review to determine their accuracy. They are presented for public awareness and should not be considered final. Conditions such as power outages and equipment malfunctions can produce invalid data.
1 Since wildfires often occur in remote areas, air monitoring equipment may not be available. The following table provides a quick method to assess air quality in your area. For more detailed information you can go to the following site: http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/burning/wildfires/visibility.htm