Smoke from new wildfire in Klickitat County impacts Tri-Cities

A new wildfire ignited Friday afternoon in eastern Klickitat County. The Peterson Fire is estimated at 1,000 acres and is burning near Peterson Road and Alderdale Road. Localized Level 3 "GO NOW" evacuations are in effect as of 4:00 PM Friday, per the Klickitat County Emergency Management Facebook page.

Southwest winds across the Horse Heaven Hills have been breezy, and winds in the Tri-Cities have been sustained around 20mph most of the afternoon with gusts around 30mph. This has kicked up a fair amount of dust and is now combining with smoke from the Peterson Fire.

 

Air Quality Index observations from Kennewick, WA.

The Kennewick–Metaline site is reporting Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups due to elevated PM10 concentrations from dust, while PM2.5 associated with smoke are currently in the Moderate category. Several PurpleAir sensors around the Tri-Cities are also showing deteriorating air quality. 

With a cooler weather pattern in place and improving relative humidity overnight, it's unlikely to remain on the landscape long. However, breezy winds are expected through the weekend, so it will need to be monitored.

Also, be mindful that cloud cover over the weekend may mask satellite wildfire detections. This may impact the air quality forecast located on the map on the home page of the Washington Smoke Blog. If clouds are blocking the satellite's view of the fire, the forecast may not fully capture smoke impacts.