Showing posts with label chelancounty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chelancounty. Show all posts

Friday, September 21, 2012

9/21/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast

Washington Air Quality Advisory (WAQA) Chart:

Ecology Air Quality Monitoring Network Map: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.ltr.aspx
  -note, click on the dots and you can then click on View more information to find out the latest hourly values even if the dot is gray
              
Central Region, Ecology Air Quality Report
              
               Chelan County monitor locations:
Wenatchee- “Hazardous”
Leavenworth- “Very Unhealthy”
Chelan- “Unhealthy”

               Okanogan County monitor locations:
Omak - “Moderate”
Winthrop – “Unhealthy”
Twisp-  “Unhealthy”

               Kittitas County monitor location:
Ellensburg- “Very Unhealthy”

               Klickitat County monitor location:
Goldendale- “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”

Eastern Region, Ecology Air Quality Report

Blue Mountain Area
Clarkston  -  “Unhealthy”
Dayton  -   “Moderate”
Walla Walla  -  “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”

Palouse/Spokane Area
Pullman  - “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
Rosalia  - “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
LaCrosse  -  “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
Spokane  -  “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
Deer Park  -  monitor down
Northeast
Colville  -  “Good”
Wellpinit  -  “Moderate”
Columbia Basin
Kennewick  -  “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
Mesa  - “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
Moses Lake  - “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
Ritzville  - “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups”
USDA FOREST SERVICE Air Quality Report

           Chelan County monitor location:
Wenatchee (Confluence Park)- “Hazardous”
Cashmere- “Hazardous”
Entiat: “Hazardous”

           Grant County monitor location:
Quincy- “Unhealthy”


          
          Kittitas County monitor location:
Cle Elum- “Unhealthy”

Another very useful webpage for grab hourly and 24 hour data, Puget Sound Clean Air and their air quality tool:

Remember the Eastern Washington Burn Ban remains effective through Monday, September, 24, 2012 .

Air Quality forecast, 8AM Friday 21 September 2012
Issued by Ranil Dhammapala, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

Western WA has cleared out well under the stronger marine push and will stay that way today. Air quality in the Columbia Basin and the Palouse/ Spokane has been deteriorating very gradually over the last few days and is mostly in the "Unhealthy for sensitive groups" category this morning. Air in these areas may improve slightly but not hugely, Saturday evening through Sunday evening.

The areas of serious concern- located at the eastern foothills of the Cascades- continue to remain problematic. Air in Wenatchee has remained in the "Hazardous" category for several days now, with each day being a little worse than the previous. Cashmere and Entiat are in a similar situation, while Leavenworth, Ellensburg, the upper and lower Yakima Valley and Chelan have been recording Very Unhealthy conditions. This scenario is not expected to change much over the next few days.

The approach and passage of a low pressure system Friday night through Saturday evening gives rise to a small threat of dry lightning in the Washington Cascades mostly south of Lake Chelan. Given the dry fuels in the area, we can only pray that there won’t be new fires for the already stretched firefighters to contend with.

Some cooler temperatures are on tap for eastern WA next week and this should help reduce fire activity, but the kind of soaking rain needed is a notable absentee from the forecast.

The National Weather Service issued an Air Quality Alert for much of eastern Washington:
http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=otx&wwa=air%20quality%20alert

Thursday, September 20, 2012

9/20/12 Smoke spreads across Eastern Washington with little relief in sight


      Smoke spreads across Eastern Washington with little relief in sight

            YAKIMA - Smoke is filling up the low-lying areas of Eastern Washington with weather patterns keeping a lid on most of the region with no relief in sight, according to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).

            "Unfortunately, areas around Wenatchee remain in the worst shape," said Sean Hopkins, Ecology air quality specialist in Yakima. "At the same time, other areas are experiencing unhealthy air anywhere smoke lingers from the hundreds of wildfires that are burning."

            Specifically, Ecology and Forest Service air-quality monitors in Chelan County are reading in the hazardous and unhealthy ranges. Poorer conditions are trending in the Quincy area and conditions could worsen around Spokane, Pullman and Clarkston.

            Monitor measurements in Ellensburg are in the unhealthy range, but is trending better than earlier hazardous readings. Cle Elum readings by the Forest Service are moderate, showing some improvement.

      All residents in the Wenatchee area should stay indoors and curtail their physical activities both indoors and out. Doors and windows should remain closed. In the remainder of the Yakima and Columbia basins common sense precautions should be taken by everyone, but sensitive groups -- such as children, the elderly and heart patients -- are particularly vulnerable.
     
      The biggest health threat comes from the fine particles in smoke. These can cause burning eyes, runny nose, bronchitis and other illnesses. Smoky air also can aggravate pre-existing heart and lung diseases, and even lead to death.
     
      Follow air quality online at the Washington Department of Ecology wildfire/smoke Web page:  Go to Ecology's home page at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/ and click on "Wildfire smoke updates" on the right side under "Spotlight."
      
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Media Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, Communications Manager, 509-575-2610; joye.redfield-wilder@ecy.wa.gov


Ecology's website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov


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