Smoke Continues in Eastern WA as Fires Grow

Fires continue to grow across the region, and new starts continue to emerge as dry and unstable conditions persist. With so much fire on the landscape, smoke is becoming a familiar sight in Eastern WA; for many communities it will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future. 

Satellite imagery (Aqua) from Sunday, July 26 showcasing significant smoke plumes in Washington and Oregon. Yesterday's daily average PM2.5 concentrations shown in the circles. 

Across Southeast WA, intermittent periods of impaired air quality continue to drift in from numerous Oregon fires. Northeast and north-central WA are seeing widespread smoke impacts from active fires in their region. Several notable fires are currently contributing to regional smoke:

• The Kaiser Canyon Fire in Nespelem has grown to over 120,000 acres and will remain active. Areas nearby and to the north and east will continue experiencing smoke. The Pearl Hill Fire SW of the Kaiser Canyon Fire began Saturday but exhibited minimal fire activity yesterday.
• The Bradeen Hill Fire (over 3,400 acres) near Gifford, WA in Stevens County started on Saturday and spread rapidly with strong winds. Smoke will impact nearby communities in addition to areas to the north and northeast such as Colville. 
• West of Tonasket, the Sinlahekin Fire is almost 1,000 acres and is burning in challenging terrain.
• In the north Cascades, smoke from the Ptarmigan Fire (2,700 acres) has been impacting the Methow Valley. Expect continued growth from this fire.
• The Little Giant Fire 22 miles northwest of Leavenworth (now over 22,000 acres) continues to exhibit extreme fire behavior; an impressive smoke plume was visible in Western WA on Saturday.
• Numerous Oregon fires are sending smoke across the border to Southeast WA, leading to intermittent smoke impacts and hazy skies in Southeast WA. 

Breezy afternoon winds out of the west and southwest today and tomorrow will help to clear out smoke in areas not immediately downwind of active fires. However, impaired air quality will continue in any areas to the north and east of active and emerging fires. Smoke will also settle into downwind valley communities in the evening and overnight hours leading to Unhealthy or Very Unhealthy air quality. 

Air Quality Alerts have been extended until Wednesday morning for the following counties due to current and expected smoke impacts: Asotin, Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Okanogan, and Stevens. 

Conditions Favor Continued Fire Growth

Given the upcoming windy and dry weather and number of fires burning, conditions remain primed for continued fire growth. Any new or existing fires have a high probability of ignition and rapid spread. With the dynamic conditions and potential for increased fire growth, smoke and visibility impacts are largely variable--continue to keep an eye on changing conditions and we'll update as needed.

Checking in on this summer's air quality

It's still only July, yet smoke impacts have already been widespread across Eastern Washington. Unfortunately, smoky conditions are likely to continue. The plot below looks at the statewide average of all monitoring sites over the summer, broken up by region. The black line is the the 2026 data to date, while the gray lines represent previous years. Many areas have already experienced quite a few impaired air quality days, and we're only partway through the season.