Monday, September 7, 2020

Labor Day Update - Cold Springs Fire erupts while Evans Canyon Fire calms down.

A fire just south of Omak erupted yesterday and is still growing. There is extreme fire behavior. Large scale evacuations are underway and communities are threatened.  There are conflicting reports on fire size, with some saying 9,000 acres with other estimates much larger (over 65,000 acres), but active fire locations appear to show a very large area burned (map below).  The fire was initially being called the “Cold Springs Fire” and the “Road 28 Fire.” Douglas County officials say it’s officially been renamed the “Cold Springs Canyon Fire/Pearl Hill Fire.”  Today's GOES animated imagery shows a big plume traveling south this morning.  Winds should eventually bring smoke transport full circle today and tomorrow, affecting Central WA.  Smoke models don't have a good representation of this fire but degraded air quality is Moderate across many parts of Central Washington this morning, with Very Unhealthy air being monitored in Sunnyside.  Smoke may head west and affect elevated locations today (Twisp?), but winds should die down tomorrow, and smoke could pool in Central WA.  Expect updates tomorrow on this blog.


    
        Fire Detects for Cold Springs Canyon Fire


In other news, the Evans Canyon fire exhibited little growth yesterday, with only a few thousand acres burned (76,000 acres burned over the event). That fire is at 60% containment with minimal fire behavior.



63 comments:

  1. I don't see this as a moderate smoke problem. it's horrible in Richland

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  2. Very Smokey this afternoon, 9/7 very sudden. Near Wish Poosh campground...

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  3. Monitors across central WA have spiked to Unhealthy. There is also a high wind dust event that occurred today and several new fires that cropped up. See the MODIS image.

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  4. Any idea how long the smoke will last in Central Washington?

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    1. It doesn't look good. There are new fires cropping up this afternoon. The wind speeds are very strong and large swaths of smoke can be seen funneling through the Columbia Basin to the west, impacting a large part of the state. The smoke is moving quickly and may ventilate quickly, but the source is getting larger and the wind directions aren't changing much the next couple days. With this much new fire activity there will be a lot of smoke continuing to flow through Central WA towards Western WA with a lot of dynamic behavior. The winds won't be as strong tomorrow and hopefully fire growth will slow down, but there will likely be smoke hanging around. You can see the new smoke sources at the very end of today's GOES animation.

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    2. Smokey , VERY SMOKEY
      ORTING , WA.

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  5. Windy and very smoky in the salmon creek area of Vancouver wa.

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  6. Very smoky in Woodland WA and the winds are mild.

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  7. Lil smoky and windy on battleground, Vancouver area of wa

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  8. Very smokey in Woodland, WA
    Keeping my mom indoors with the air on!

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  9. Incredibly smoky in Puyallup right now. Just blew in out of nowhere.

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  10. Incredible amount of smoke just blew into Puyallup on a strong wind front.

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  11. Maple valley / Renton area smoky

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  12. Snoqualmie Pass is getting hit hard. The breeze has blown the smoke through the corridor. Cant see Rampart Ridge from Hyak now and the smell confirms this is WA fires.

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    1. Strong smell of smoke in Redmond Ridge, getting worse over last hour.

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  13. Auburn, WA. (Lakeland Hills) Sudden smokey air just noticing in last 30-40 min. Has only gotten thicker, had to close door & windows.

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  14. Very smokey and windy in Buckley, stay safe

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  15. Issaquah. Very smokey

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  16. Very Smokey in Tacoma, WA right now. Came in very quickly and air is heavy to breathe

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    1. Yes, smells like smoke in north Tacoma. Quite noticeable

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  17. Extremely smokey here in Tacoma. If it’s this bad here I just hope the firefighters are safe where it’s originating.

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  18. Lots of smoke in Bellevue/Issaquah area.

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  19. we just started smelling smoke in Tacoma, WA out of nowhere about 10 minutes ago. Wasn’t sure until I got to this page whether it was something in town burning or whether it was wildfires.

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  20. we just started smelling smoke in Tacoma, WA out of nowhere about 10 minutes ago. Wasn’t sure until I got to this page whether it was something in town burning or whether it was wildfires.

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  21. Browns Point is very smokey and the smell is heavy.

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  22. Super smoky in Tacoma right now. Pretty sudden onset.

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  23. Tacoma it's so smokey I live in an r.v. with my two children under 4. Due to covid and loss of work hours... no money for hotel. Does anyone know how bad it is to breath? It smells bad in here

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  24. Tacoma smoke can be easily smelled and visibility is very low

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  25. Smoky in Fairwood, WA. Blew in quite suddenly about 7:30. Worse than the last time.

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  26. Veryyyyyyy smokey in East REDMOND, WA!!!

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  27. Watching the smoke waft up through Lake Washington to Bellevue. It has now blanketed the area. We felt a stiff breeze around 6:30pm and then noticed the smokey haze.

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  28. AQI is 103 unhealthy at my home in tacoma

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  29. Closed all windows here in Olympia when I started smelling smoke in the air around 8:50 pm. Thanks to all sharing conditions where they are. They're helpful along with the descriptions of fire conditions shared by Ecology staff.

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  30. Very smokey in Newcastle, WA. Settled onto ground level at dusk, making the air eye-burning, and a fog-like haze visible under street lamps.

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  31. Very smokey in Mill Creek, Wa. Went to open windows to cool the house, and house filled with smoke.

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  32. Very smokey in Bothell, WA. Came on very fast.

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  33. I can smell smoke here in north Everett

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  34. Very smokey in Bothell, Canyon Park. It woke us up. The air seems still with no wind at all.

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  35. Strong smokey smell in port orchard as of midnight. Wind from sw.

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  36. Very Smokey and strange smell in Olympia WA. Googled “Olympia WA smokey smelly” to try to figure out the cause and I found this site. Very helpful.

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  37. Smokey and strong, strange smell in Olympia WA. Just Googled “Olympia WA smokey smelly” and found this site. Very helpful.

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  38. Very Smokey in Monroe WA. Wind died down so now the smoke is Lingering and getting thicker. Air Quality is not good

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  39. Very Smokey and little to no Wind to carry it away in Monroe WA

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  40. Smoke woke me up 2:30 AM in Sequim, coughing.

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  41. Very strong smokey smell in Sequim which started around midnight and now much stronger- 5 am.

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  42. Terrible smokiness in downtown Everett that has penetrated building to the point I thought our building was on fire. My eyes are burning as if I were sitting near a firepit with the wind blowing it straight into my face. The people living wherever this fire(s) must be in terrible distress. I can’t even imagine. Truly we need to pray to draw close to the living God Jehovah (Psalm 83:18 & James 4:8) to “succeed in escaping all [the calamity coming upon us] and standing before the Son of man [Christ Jesus]. (Luke 21:36) This is our only true hope for a peaceful future free from all worry (no pandemics, no wars, no crime or violence, no devastating fires, flooding, hurricanes and the like which is beyond any of our abilities to overcome in our own limited collective or individual wisdom and abilities. (Jeremiah 10:23,24)

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  43. Horribly smokey in Port Townsend. Closed windows in the middle of the night. Really bad this morning.

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  44. smokey in Sequim for hours. Woke us up!

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  45. Very bad in Shoreline. Had one small window open and woke up early this morning to whole house smelling of smoke despite Merv 13 furnace filter.

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  46. Wenatchee very smoky. Looks like LA smog.

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  47. Can anyone give me an update on gold bar campground in Washington? Has it been evacuated or it camping still ok?

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