Smoky Conditions Across NorthEast Washington

Smoke was clearly visible from local fires yesterday, not a good sign of things to come.

VIIRS Imagery from Thurday Afternoon

People across northern Washington, from Omak to the Spokane tribe, woke up to Unhealthy air quality this morning.   Air has even degraded to Very Unhealthy at times, due to smoke from multiple fires being carried east.  

  

PM2.5 Monitors - Friday Morning

Unfortunately, windy conditions will persist throughout the day, which will likely cause more fire growth and generate even more smoke.  The winds will have the benefit of momentarily clearing out smoke at times, but probably not for long.  The image below shows the path that smoke is expected to travel today, starting at the fire locations shown as red squares.  You can see how the area around the Spokane Tribe Reservation is being hit by multiple plumes!

HYSPLIT Forward Trajectory Forecasts from Fire Locations - Friday Morning

Winds are expected to die down over the weekend, as temperatures increase.  This means that smoke should disperse from Eastern Washington late today but people in North-Central Washington will likely see smoke persist locally around the large fires through the weekend and experience Unhealthy air quality at times.  It's only early August, so this could be just the beginning of persistent smoky conditions.