Central Washington residents are not quite so lucky. We have been monitoring Unhealthy to Hazardous air quality all across the region. Residents have been hit hard with the combination of Canadian smoke plus the fires on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. Winds shouldn't bring much more Canadian smoke into the region for the next couple days, but the current smoke will likely linger and local fires will continue to impact the region. We expect Very Unhealthy air to persist in many areas across Central Washington for the next couple days, with perhaps better conditions in the southern-most counties.
MODIS Satellite Image for 11 am PDT (Fire locations shown in red)
(Note the huge patch of smoke over BC)
Eastern Washington has also been sitting in Unhealthy air which will likely persist. Forecast models do show somewhat of a split between Northeastern and Southeastern Washington on Wednesday evening. Residents in Spokane and other parts of Northeastern Washington will probably continue to experience Unhealthy air. However, the Southeastern counties could get a little better tomorrow night, with perhaps Moderate to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups air quality.
Washington's PM2.5 (smoke) conditions (11 am - noon PDT)
Please see Current Conditions Here
So, while Western Washington may have lucked out this time with a relatively short-lived smoke event, the rest of the state will likely continue to see smoky conditions in the foreseeable future.
Please see the Smoke and Health tab of this blog for information about what you can do to protect yourself from wildfire smoke. For those interested in purchasing indoor air purifiers, see this good NY Times article from last year entitled What to Know Before Buying an Air Purifier to Clear Wildfire Smoke.
I've been watching the different air forecasting models and have noticed that some of the US models neglect smoke drifting in from the Canadian fires and vice versa. One thing that I'm seeing is that the earth.nullschool.net global weather model seems to include a lot of influence from the Vancouver Island fires but no other air forecasting model seems to have that level of emphasis on them. Is this a gap in the other models or is it that the nullschool happens to be using a data set that's leading it to possibly overemphasis the smoke from those fires?
ReplyDeleteThis has to do with the domain size and whether boundary conditions are near-real-time or not. If the modeling domain does not include the Canadian fires, and the boundary conditions don't have near-real-time estimates of incoming pollutants, then they will miss those smoke impacts. If you are looking for a smoke forecast model that includes all of North America, I suggest Canada's Firework model: https://weather.gc.ca/firework/index_e.html
DeleteAs for whether specific fires get more or less emphasis, this could be due to the fuels maps that are used to estimate emissions, what time fire locations are queried before the model simulation, or how large a fire is assumed to be when detected from space. There are other factors too such as plume rise algorithms and the meteorology used. Every model has its own pros and cons.
DeleteWhat’s the forecast for grand coulee? Any clearing of smoke this weekend?
ReplyDeleteForecasting that many days in the future is uncertain. I would expect some smoke in your area this weekend. Though, it shouldn't be as bad as the past 2 days.
DeleteTrying to decide if I should cancel a Chelan trip for Thursday-Sunday. Should the smoke be significantly clearer over that time period?
ReplyDeleteChelan is very close to large wildfires. You should prepare for smoky conditions there in the foreseeable future.
DeleteHave an outdoor tournament scheduled this weekend in Yakima on Saturday and Sunday. Any forecast for air quality this weekend in yakima?
ReplyDeleteSorry we missed this query. Good/ Moderate air this weekend, degrading Sunday afternoon.
DeleteMy neighbors are burning a campfire tonight (Tuesday) in an outdoor pit. Shouldn't this be banned in these conditions?
ReplyDeleteRecreational fires on private property less than 3 feet in diameter are legal. You can check this site for burn ban information: https://waburnbans.net/can-i-burn/ The Washington code is here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=173-425 . You should check with your local fire marshall's office for more details.
DeleteI have a trip booked for August 24th wknd in Wapato Point but am concerned about air quality and proximity to Chelan fires. I know it’s a ways out but any advice on rescheduling or keeping it on the calendar? I have until this Friday to cancel.
ReplyDeleteYes it is too far in the future to give a forecast. However, nearby wildfires will continue to produce smoke for the foreseeable future. You can stay up to date on recent wildfire details by zooming into the interactive map here: https://maps.nwcg.gov
DeleteThank you for the response. We cancelled. I appreciate your hard work and info on this site!
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