Wildfires in central and eastern Washington showed extreme fire behavior on Wednesday. In particular, the Wildcat Fire was intense enough to tap into mid-level moisture and generate its own thunderstorm, also known as a pyro-cumulonimbus cloud. Later in the evening, the Lower Sugarloaf Fire did the same thing!
With the fire activity across British Columbia and Washington, much of the state is now under a blanket of wildfire smoke. An air quality alert is in effect for all counties of central and eastern Washington through the weekend and possibly beyond. The alert will be re-evaluated on Monday.
Air quality across central and eastern Washington is expected to remain poor or even get worse in some areas through the weekend. In western Washington, light easterly flow will also pull smoke overhead, though the expectation is that most of the heavier smoke concentrations will remain at elevations above 1,000'-2,000', with less concentration at the surface in the Puget Lowlands. That being said, it will be a very smoky weekend in the higher elevations of the Cascades. Keep in mind, this is just a forecast. With this much smoke moving overhead, it's recommended to check current air quality conditions often for anyone across the state.
Going forward, there could be modest clearing on Sunday into Monday, especially in western Washington and through the Columbia Gorge as stronger onshore winds arrive. Cooler temperatures and some moisture next week should help with control efforts on some of the large fires across the state, but it likely won't be enough to put the fires out. Smoke will continue to affect portions of eastern Washington as long as those fires continue to burn.
Additional blog updates will continue through the duration of this smoke event.
Thank you for continuing this blog. These posts are always very interesting and informative. You are a fantastic resource for everyone dealing with wildfire smoke across the state.
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DeleteNice Blog Post. Thank you!
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