Monday, August 13, 2018
8/13/2018 Smoky State overview
Smoke is moving south into the state from Canada plus some of the smoke from fires east of the Cascades has filtered over the mountains into the Puget Sound area. There are other fires in the state contributing to the mix, including the large Grass Valley fire near Grand Coulee Dam but the fires indicated are the ones contributing the most to poor air quality around the state. (Satellite photo from about 2pm this afternoon. Original, large image can be seen here: ModisAug13)
16 comments:
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We have so far avoided our planned backpacking trip in the north Cascades near Cascade pass. We went to the trailhead yesterday and the smoke was much worse then we had expected with the forecast .is the mountain situation likely to improve tomorrow?
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think so. Perhaps there could be slight improvement with light winds out of the west but between the Canada fires, McLeod, Crescent Mountain, Bannock Lakes, and Cougar Creek fires... you should expect smoke coming from somewhere.
DeleteHello, I have a trip planned for Lake Chelan later in the week, will the air conditions improve or do you expect the smoke to remain as is for a while?
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Lake Chelan is very close to wildfires so you should expect continued smoky conditions. It may not be in the "Hazardous" range, but we expect "Unhealthy" to "Very Unhealthy" conditions to persist for the foreseeable future.
DeleteLooking for conditions around Ocean city. How are they?
ReplyDeleteThe last reading from the Aberdeen monitor is "Very Unhealthy". This should improve sometime tomorrow.
DeleteCamping in Moses Lake this weekend. What will conditions be? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt's too early to give a confident forecast for the weekend. However, from what I can see it appears that there could be some relief from smoky conditions on Saturday with probable smoke impacts on Sunday from fires in the Cascades.
DeleteWhat about the area around Lake Cresent and Sol Duc Hot Springs over the next two days? We were planning a camping trip but we would like to know the air quality prediction. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe smoke should start to clear out late this afternoon in that area. You should be OK.
DeleteWas hoping to get out backpacking this weekend. Are there any areas that are likely to be less exposed to smoke? Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt's too early for a confident forecast for the weekend. The clearest skies will be western WA... the western side of the Olympics should be especially clear. Hopefully the western sides of Gifford Pinchot NF or Mount Rainier NP will be clear, but stay aware of the Miriam fire. Other possibilities include the Umatilla National Forest, which might be OK too.
DeleteTo what extent do smoke conditions change with altitude? I’m planning on hiking/climbing the Enchantments. Does smoke vary comparably with altitude throughout the Washington Cascades (N-S or E-W differences)?
ReplyDeleteThis depends on the height of the atmospheric mixing layer, also called the boundary layer, as well as the smoke plume height. If you get high enough so you are above the boundary layer then typically you should get out of most of the smoke. However, the boundary layer is usually pretty high up in the summer. For instance, it could be over 5000 feet in the upper Cascades today. You can see the most recent MODIS satellite image which shows the extent of smoke observed this morning https://go.nasa.gov/2vJ9B4Y ; perhaps that will help.
DeleteWhen do you expect smoke/haze conditions to clear in Anacortes?
ReplyDeleteIt should start to clear out this evening and get progressively better through tomorrow. However, with current fires on Vancouver Island and further north in BC, it's possible you could get some intermittent smoke this weekend.
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