Evening 8/25/2015: Expected Fire and Smoke patterns for the next couple days in the NE Washington area

Evening update: Due to breaking inversions and smoke aloft, conditions in Inchelium, Wellpinit, and Colville were most smoky mid-morning to mid-afternoon.  Nearer to fires in Omak, Nespelem, and Republic, the most smoky periods were overnight/early morning while the least smoky periods were mid- to late afternoon before sundown.

Monitoring results from NE Washington area smoke monitors. Histograms graphs to the right of the map show AQI colors for 1 hr average readings, and the tic marks are at 0z (5 P.M.) for last 10 days.  To see this set of sites, click here, and click "Generate Plots" for detailed graphs.

Smoke from fires to the far SW (i.e., the Grizzly Bear and Cougar Creek fires) also affected the region's smoke concentrations today. Winds for the next couple days through Thursday will be lighter though.

Animation of GOES Visible Satellite imagery for this afternoon.

Active fire behavior is expected over the next couple days, in combination with these lighter SW winds. This combination is likely to result in more localized smoke impacts, especially near the fires in Wellpinit, Omak, Nespelem, and likely Inchelium.  

VIIRS remotely sensed fire activity (redder is more recent), with active smoke monitoring sites.

Firing operations to control the Northstar fire may also increase emissions tonight under the inversions, further impacting Omak. Inversions will also continue to trap smoke near the surface farther away from fires in the Spokane area.  Here's how the pattern looks across the region with the Bluesky Model for tonight and tomorrow (inversions will trap smoke everywhere, but redder pixels will have more smoke).