2020 wildfire smoke has arrived, and we have a new forecast map to keep y'all apprised

Wildfire smoke is making a gentle, phased entry into Washington. Main culprit today is smoke from the Caldwell fire near Lava Beds National Monument in northern California, which is starting to drift over southeastern Washington in light amounts today. This is expected to continue through tomorrow at least, causing areas of Moderate air.

This is all reflected on our new wildfire smoke forecast map, which recently went live on Ecology's air monitoring webpage.



The above tool offers interactive forecasts of daily average smoke conditions for today and tomorrow across the state. Feel free to use the Search feature, pan and zoom around to locate areas of interest. Plans are underway to reflect the same forecast on the map above this blog. Curious about how it all works? Click here.

Conditions in eastern WA are also ripe for new fire starts and their rapid spread this week. The public is highly encouraged to exercise utmost caution to prevent new fires.



And lastly, typical COVID face masks do not offer protection from wildfire smoke. N95 masks are required for that, and those maybe in short supply. So lets do our due diligence and not invite nature to come at us with a two-pronged pitchfork.