Second verse, same as the first

We’re in a bit of a holding pattern to start the week: That’s good news if you’re in western Washington, where onshore winds will continue to keep the smoke at bay and maintain air quality in the green zone. Less good if you’re in north-central or southeast Washington, where large fires are producing a significant amount of smoke, which you can see by the dark maroon (hazardous) and light purple (very unhealthy) and red (unhealthy) on our monitoring map this morning.

Hazardous air quality on monitors near Winthrop

Air quality in those areas should improve as the day goes on and the warmth of the sun increases mixing in the atmosphere, allowing some of that smoke to dissipate. Still, expect air quality in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups or Unhealthy range in Mazama, Winthrop, Twisp and surrounding communities.

Mean daily air quality readings in E. WA cities

In Clarkston and nearby communities, air quality should improve to the Moderate range as the day goes on, but expect to wake up to poor air quality conditions throughout the week. Southeast Washington is getting a glancing shot from smoke coming from the massive Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon, although the bulk of the smoke there is still coming from local fires.

Smoke from the Bootleg Fire in Oregon - NWS

Because of those air quality impacts in central and eastern Washington, we’ve again extended our Air Quality Alert for Asotin, Ferry, Garfield, Okanogan, Stevens and Whitman counties until further notice. Finally, thunderstorms are in the forecast again this week, and the National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning through Wednesday for much of eastern Washington because of the elevated fire danger. 

We’ve got a long ways to go in this fire season yet, so stay safe out there.