Yes, you read that right. Lotsa BC smoke poised to overrun the state again. But first things first.
Here is a comparison of how the 2018 wildfire smoke impacts compare with past years.
The gray shading reflects the typical range of air quality conditions over the last 11 wildfire seasons. In more precise techno-talk, it is the median through the 95th percentile. You can see roughly when each area experienced its smoke episodes in the past. The black lines show how 2018 has progressed thus far. The background shading shows the intensity of smoke.
So all of western Washington for example, experienced smoke impacts for longer in past summers (mostly 2017), than 2018. But that pales in comparison with what Okanogan and Chelan counties have routinely endured in the past: in fact, this year has been a little mellower for them, although still pretty brutal. Similar conclusions can be drawn about other areas.
What's the take home message? That someone else had/ has it worse, so quit complaining and tough it out? Far from it! Wildfire smoke impacts, even at low levels are detrimental to human health and our readers are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the health-protection resources on this blog.
What about that BC smoke?
This is where things get ugly and stay ugly through mid- week or so. This afternoon's satellite picture shows a lot of smoke overhead, gradually moving south-southwest (red dots are fires).
LOTS of smoke to the north and the forecast shows it engulfing the state by tomorrow. Here's one model's prediction surface level smoke on Sunday night:
Chances are slim that there will be a natural clean air shelter anywhere in the state through Wednesday. All the more reason to be diligent about minimizing time outdoors, donning N95 face masks, running A/C's in recirculation mode (temperatures are likely to soar early this week but smoke aloft will shave off a few degrees), or investing in an air purifier which does not produce indoor ozone.
Can you explain the last sentence about getting an air purifier which does not produce indoor ozone? Why is this bad and what kind of purifier is not recommended? thank you!
ReplyDeleteYes, please see some of the undesirable side effects of indoor air purifiers that generate ozone. Research suggests ozone generated by air purifiers does little to remove fine particles, and ozone can be directly toxic to human health. See https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/ozone_gen_fact_sheet-a.pdf
DeleteWe have an electrostatic air cleaner that filters the air coming in to the heat exchanger. The fan runs 24 hours. You mention that we need an air purifier that does not produce indoor ozone. Should we not be running the electrostatic air cleaner?
ReplyDeleteElectrostatic air cleaners by themselves dont generate ozone so should be OK. However some units may also have ozone generators included and those arent what you want to be using. See https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/ozone_gen_fact_sheet-a.pdf
Deletethanks for the helpful fact sheet and for keeping this blog going!
DeleteIs there any way to predict when all this smoke might go from "awful smog that has a chance of showing up every day" to "just some scattered smoke here and there"? September? October? Winter?
ReplyDeleteThe above data shows few very widespread smoke episodes after the middle of September. However what it doesnt capture is the finer scale: some communities saw terrible smoke well into October in 2012, mostly because of close proximity to fires that broke out around mid Sept. That was a lot worse than "some scattered smoke here and there".
DeleteSo to answer your question, mid October has historically marked the end of the smoke, but some communities might see relief sooner if winds keep smoke away.
My air conditioner is a portable with a Biosilver air filter which traps bacteria, dust, and pollen. It does not have a recirculate mode. When I use it on unhealthy days, the air it emits doesn't smell smoky. Does that mean it's providing sufficient filtration? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Blythe, that filter doesnt remove fine particulates (which smoke consists of) well enough even if it removes the larger particles like dust & pollen. The absence of an odor doesnt indicate good filtration.
DeleteAs a data scientist / analyst - i find this very helpful! Do you plan to update?
ReplyDeleteI could... but not on a daily/ weekly basis. What specific info/ products were you looking for? Or, put another way, what are some of the questions you're trying to answer?
DeleteHeading to Lynden Wa. for a month vacation. Could postpone it for a month. Would that be a good idea ? We plan a lot of outdoor activity and are senior citizens. Air quality is a concern.
ReplyDeleteWhatcom county is close enough to wildfire activity, that there could be intermittent smoke events for the next few weeks. In general, air quality concerns will be better a month from now since cooler temperatures and possible rain will help.
DeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteWhat is cause for wildfire. With temperature increase is it happen automatically? Some purpose behind it. If it is naturally then same condition happen with humans as well. Trees are same sun baring skin like humans. But trees can not act like human though
ReplyDeleteLightning strikes are the main cause. Humans are the other major cause. When we have prolonged dry conditions, vegetation can ignite very easily.
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