10/01 Did Fairbanks experience a worse smoke episode?

In 2004, wildfires in Alaska caused serious air quality impacts in Fairbanks and surounding areas.  Who had it worse, us or them?  Monitoring data from the 2012 Washington fires has been analyzed on-the-fly for daily alerts and warnings but we haven't yet analyzed and summarized the whole event.  Take a look at the Fairbanks experience.  http://dec.alaska.gov/air/am/2004_wf_sum.htm

10-01 Approaching winds bring good and bad news

Washington Department of Ecology news

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Oct. 1, 2012

12-329

 

                        Approaching winds bring good and bad news

            SPOKANE - While today, Monday Oct. 1, 2012, started relatively calmly, moderate winds are entering the scene ahead of a cold front later today, both clearing the air and potentially spreading wildfires.

      According to Washington Department of Ecology air quality forecaster Ranil Dhammapala, a strong cold front dropping into Eastern Washington this evening will herald a shift to cooler weather through the rest of this week.

             "The cat among the pigeons, however, is the risk of a rapid spread of fire along the east slopes of the Cascades due to strong winds and low relative humidity," Dhammapala said. "Additionally, blowing dust across the Columbia Basin on Tuesday could restrict visibility and cause travel headaches."

            Unfortunately, for those who are still suffering through smoky days and nights, the approaching front appears to carry no precipitation except possibly tonight in the North Cascades and far northeastern parts of the state.

      Cashmere and Wenatchee are reporting "very unhealthy" air this morning. Ellensburg and Trout Lake are reporting "unhealthy" air, but are expected to worsen throughout the day. Entiat and Maple Falls are reporting "unhealthy for sensitive groups."

            Sites in the western Columbia Basin and Yakima Valley are reporting "moderate" air as are Kennewick, Mesa and Moses Lake. All other sites statewide have relatively clear skies.

            Cool air will continue to flow into Eastern Washington from the north on Wednesday but winds should relax. Another frontal system is expected by Thursday, but it too carries little or no precipitation.

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

             Gov. Gregoire also has extended a burn ban until midnight Sunday night, Oct. 7. http://www.governor.wa.gov/news/news-view.asp?pressRelease=1972&newsType=1

###

Media Contact:

  Jani Gilbert, Communications, 509-329-3495; cell, 509-990-9177; e-mail jani.gilbert@ecy.wa.gov.

For more information:

* Joint blog on wildfire smoke and related information: http://wasmoke.blogspot.com

 * Check for air quality monitoring information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/air_monitoring_data/WAQA_Intro_Page.html

* Washington Department of Health smoke information:  http://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom.aspx

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

Ecology's social media: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/about/newmedia.html

10-01 (Seattle – October 1 2012) EPA Continues Burn Ban for the Yakama Reservation, Lifts Burn Ban for the Warm Springs Reservation and the Air Quality Burn Advisory lifted for Colville and Spokane Reservations

Contact: Gary Olson, 206-553-0977, olson.gary@epa.gov or Keith Rose, 206-553-1949, rose.keith@epa.gov

  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 will continue a burn ban on all outdoor burning on the Yakama Reservation  through Thursday, October 4th, due to the impact of smoke from wild fires.  This smoke has caused air quality monitor readings to approach and at times exceed the unhealthy level for sensitive groups.   These wild fires are expected to continue to impact air quality over the next several days  Therefore these burn bans will remain through Thursday, October 4th, when EPA will re-evaluate the situation.
These burn bans apply to all outdoor and agricultural burning, including camping and recreational fires within reservation boundaries.   Ceremonial and traditional fires are exempt from the outdoor burn ban.

EPA also requests that reservation residents reduce all sources of air pollution, including excess driving and idling of vehicles, and the use of woodstoves and fireplaces, unless it is your only source of heat. Although the wild fires are continuing,  better air dispersion should help clear out smoke over the next several days for the Colville, Spokane and Warm Springs Reservations.  Therefore we are lifting the Burn Ban on the Warm Springs Reservation and also lifting the Air quality Advisory for the Colville and Spokane Reservations.  It is important to observe any fire safety burn bans that are in place on these Reservations

Air pollution can have significant health impacts.  Cooperation from the community will help people who are at risk during this period.  Those most at risk are children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with difficulty breathing and with heart and lung problems.  Those at risk should avoid outdoor exercise and minimize exposure to outdoor pollution as much as possible.

Please call 1-800-424-4EPA and ask for the FARR Hotline or visit the Federal Air Rules for Reservations (FARR) website for the current burn ban status at www.epa.gov/r10earth/FARR.htm.



Gary Olson
OAWT  Suite 900
EPA Region 10
1200 6th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
206-553-0977

10/01/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

10-01-12 Air Monitor Update 0800 PDT

Central Region Ecology Air Quality Report   Chelan County: Wenatchee- Very Unhealthy Leavenworth-  Good Chelan- Moderate Okanogan County: Omak - Good Winthrop – Good Twisp-   Good Kittitas County: Ellensburg- Unhealthy Yakima County: Yakima- Moderate White Swan- Good Toppenish- Klickitat County: Goldendale- Good   Eastern Region Ecology Air Quality Report Blue Mt. Area Clarkston  -  Good Dayton  -   Good Walla Walla  -  Good Palouse Area Pullman  -  Good Rosalia  -  Good LaCrosse  -  Good Northeast Colville  -  Good Wellpinit  -  Good

Central Washington Air Quality Report from Forest Service Temporary Monitor Locations Chelan County: Wenatchee(Confluence Park)- Unhealthy Cashmere- Very Unhealthy Entiat- Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Okanogan County: Pateros- Good Grant County: Quincy-  Good Kittitas County: Cle Elum- Good Klickitat County Trout Lake- Unhealthy         Eastern cont., Ecology Air Quality Report Columbia Basin Kennewick  -  Moderate Mesa  - Moderate Moses Lake  - Moderate Ritzville  - Good   Spokane Area Spokane - Good Liberty Lake - Good

Another very useful webpage for a grab hourly and 24 hour data, Puget Sound Clean Air and their air quality tool: http://airgraphing.pscleanair.org/

The emergency burn ban has continued until OCTOBER 7^th, 2012 at midnight

 

10-01-12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

Air Quality forecast, 8AM Monday 1 October 2012
Issued by Ranil Dhammapala, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

Cashmere and Wenatchee are reporting Very Unhealthy air this morning, while Ellensburg and Trout Lake are reporting Unhealthy air. The latter two are on the rise. Entiat and Maple Falls are reporting unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sites in the western Columbia Basin and Yakima valley are mostly reporting Moderate air while all other sites statewide have Good air. Smoke at ground level did not drift too far east into the Columbia Basin yesterday. The smoke impacted sites showed morning and nighttime increases and a little afternoon clearing.

Today should see moderate winds with smoke impacts in communities near the fires. Enjoy the above-normal temperatures while they last, because a strong cold front dropping into eastern WA this evening will herald a shift to cooler weather through the rest of this week. Alas with little or no precipitation, except for the North Cascades and far NE parts of the state tonight. Winds will pick up ahead of the front so smoke clearing should commence this evening. The cats among the pigeons
however are (i) the risk of rapid fire spread along the east slopes of the Cascades due to strong winds and low relative humidity, and (ii) blowing dust across the Columbia Basin on Tuesday, restricting visibilities and causing travel headaches.

Cool air will continue to flow into eastern WA from the north on Wednesday but winds should relax. Another frontal system is expected by Thursday, but with little or no precipitation.

In summary, wildfire smoke impacts are likely in and slightly east of the eastern foothills of the Cascades today, but should be much less over the next few days than we have (sadly) become accustomed to. No wildfire smoke is expected in the eastern parts of the Columbia Basin, or NE and western WA.

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

 

Ecology Air Quality Monitoring Network Map: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.ltr.aspx

  - when browsing the monitoring web page, 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 grey)

 

   

 

 

 

9/30/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

9-30-12 Air Monitor Update 0800 PDT

Central Region Ecology Air Quality Report   Chelan County: Wenatchee- Unhealthy for sensitive groups Leavenworth-  Good Chelan- Good Okanogan County: Omak - Good Winthrop – Good Twisp-   Good Kittitas County: Ellensburg- Good Yakima County: Yakima- Good White Swan- Good Toppenish- Klickitat County: Goldendale- Good Eastern Region Ecology Air Quality Report Blue Mt. Area Clarkston  -  Good Dayton  -   Good Walla Walla  -  Good Palouse Area Pullman  -  Good Rosalia  -  Good LaCrosse  -  Good Northeast Colville  -  Good Wellpinit  -  Good

Central Washington Air Quality Report from Forest Service Temporary Monitor Locations Chelan County: Wenatchee(Confluence Park)- Good Cashmere- Good Entiat- Good Okanogan County: Pateros- Good Grant County: Quincy-  Good Kittitas County: Liberty – off line Cle Elum- Good Klickitat County Trout Lake- Unhealthy Eastern cont., Ecology Air Quality Report Columbia Basin Kennewick  -  Good Mesa  - Good Moses Lake  - Good Ritzville  - Good Spokane Area Spokane, - Good Liberty Lake - Good

Another very useful webpage for a grab hourly and 24 hour data, Puget Sound Clean Air and their air quality tool: http://airgraphing.pscleanair.org/

Remember the Eastern Washington Burn Ban remains effective through Sunday, September, 30, 2012.

9/30/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

Air Quality forecast, 8AM Sunday 30 September 2012
Issued by Ranil Dhammapala, Washington State Dept. of Ecology
     A passing cold front brought smoke clearing as anticipated yesterday, and it was nice to see mostly green dots on the map of monitors after quite some time. After showing Good air for about 10 hours, Wenatchee jumped to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups within two hours this morning. Trout Lake is reporting Unhealthy air, mainly due to smoke impacts this morning. Cashmere and Entiat (currently Good) are also on the rise. Other than these monitors, Deer Park and Maple Falls (both Moderate), all other fine particle monitors in WA are reporting Good air. Ritzville, Moses Lake, Wellpinit and Colville saw some short term spikes last evening, most probably as smoke was exiting through the Columbia Basin.
     Today should see moderate winds with smoke impacts in communities near the fires. Smoke is likely to drift into the Columbia Basin, but not fill it. Expect some afternoon clearing. Areas to the east of the Basin are likely to see little or no smoke through Monday evening. A strong cold front is expected Tuesday but winds will start increasing by Monday evening and help with smoke dispersion. While precipitation appears to be confined to the North Cascades and the far NE part of the state, winds will likely kick up windblown dust in the Columbia Basin on Tuesday.
     The National Weather Service issued an Air Quality Alert for all of eastern Washington:
http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=otx&wwa=air%20quality%20alert
     The Governor has extended a burn ban on all outdoor burning in eastern Washington through midnight Sunday.

Ecology Air Quality Monitoring Network Map: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.ltr.aspx

  - when browsing the monitoring web page, 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 grey

   

9/29/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

9-29-12 Air Monitor Update 0800 PDT

Central Region Ecology Air Quality Report   Chelan County: Wenatchee- Very unhealthy   Leavenworth- Unhealthy for sensitive groups Chelan- Unhealthy Okanogan County: Omak - Unhealthy for sensitive groups Winthrop – Moderate Twisp-  Moderate Kittitas County: Ellensburg- Good Yakima County: Yakima- Unhealthy for sensitive groups White Swan- Moderate Toppenish- Unhealthy for sensitive groups Klickitat County: Goldendale- Moderate Eastern Region Ecology Air Quality Report Blue Mt. Area Clarkston  -  Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Dayton  -   Good Walla Walla  -  Moderate Palouse Area Pullman  -  Moderate Rosalia  -  Moderate LaCrosse  -  Moderate Northeast Colville  -  Moderate Wellpinit  -  Moderate

Central Washington Air Quality Report from Forest Service Temporary Monitor Locations Chelan County: Wenatchee(Confluence Park)- Hazardous Cashmere- Very Unhealthy Entiat- Hazardous Okanogan County: Pateros- Unhealthy Grant County: Quincy-  Unhealthy Kittitas County: Liberty – off line Cle Elum- Good Klickitat County Trout Lake- Unhealthy Eastern cont., Ecology Air Quality Report Columbia Basin Kennewick  -  Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Mesa  - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups  Moses Lake  - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Ritzville  - Moderate  Spokane Area Spokane, - Unhealthy for Sensitive groups Liberty Lake - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

Another very useful webpage for a grab hourly and 24 hour data, Puget Sound Clean Air and their air quality tool: http://airgraphing.pscleanair.org/

Remember the Eastern Washington Burn Ban remains effective through Sunday, September, 30, 2012.

9/29/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

Air Quality forecast, 8AM Saturday 29 September 2012
Issued by Ranil Dhammapala, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

     Other than Wenatchee (Very unhealthy) and Chelan (Unhealthy), other monitors at the Cascade foothills and Columbia Basin are reporting a mix of Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, Moderate and Good. Several of the USFS temporary monitors have incomplete data this morning, so the WAQA categories are not current. At midnight, air in Cashmere was Very Unhealthy, while Entiat and the USFS Fire camp at Wenatchee Confluence Park was reporting Hazardous air. Other nearby monitors have shown a decline in more recent hours, so it is possible these areas are no longer experiencing Hazardous air. Pateros, Quincy and Trout Lake saw Unhealthy air at midnight, while Cle Elum reported Good air. 

     Most of western WA except the Olympic Peninsula saw a little smoke and haze yesterday but the front that moved in last evening has returned air quality at all but two monitors to Good. Most monitors at the Cascade foothills have shown a downward trend over the last few hours in response to this front. Expect clearing to continue through Saturday evening and bring some relief to the smoke impacted communities of the Cascade foothills today. However the smoke will blow through the Columbia Basin while dispersing. Winds die down tonight and become more terrain-driven on Sunday and Monday, meaning nighttime and morning smoke in several areas with daytime clearing. 

     No easterly winds are expected, so there is no threat of Idaho wildfire smoke over the next few days, nor is smoke likely to move into western WA. A strong cold front is expected to move through eastern WA around Tuesday but doesn’t appear to contain a huge amount of precipitation.
The National Weather Service issued an Air Quality Alert for all of eastern Washington:
http://forecast.weather.gov/wwamap/wwatxtget.php?cwa=otx&wwa=air%20quality%20alert

     The Governor has extended a burn ban on all outdoor burning in eastern Washington through midnight Sunday.

Ecology Air Quality Monitoring Network Map: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.ltr.aspx

  - when browsing the monitoring web page, 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 grey

      

9/28 Air Quality in Cle Elum is being monitored again

Yesterday the Forest Service temporary air monitor that had been in Cle Elum was moved to Liberty to look for impacts from planned back burning being conducted on the Table Mountain Fire. So for a short time Cle Elum was without a monitor.  But starting today (9/28) at about 11am a new Cle Elum monitor was up and operating.  Values recorded by “Smoke 15” can be accessed here:

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/rawMAIN4.pl?idsm15++++M

Important:  You need to subtract 7 hours from the time given for the readings on the Forest Service Smoke monitors to get local time.  Also, there is a link on the right hand side of this WA Smoke blog page called “Interim Guidance for Wildfire Smoke and WAQA” that will help you determine the approximate health warnings associated with the readings given by the Forest Service monitors.  The values and health alerts available from State Department of Ecology monitors are best if you’re near one.  If not, using values from the Forest Service monitors along with the table in the Guidance document should help you take appropriate health precautions.

(And unfortunately it appears the Liberty monitor (Smoke 66) has malfunctioned and is not transmitting. We’ve got some folks on the way to see if that can be remedied.)

Do you have smoke or air quality questions?

This Blog is being created and maintained by cooperators from the Forest Service, Department of Ecology, Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous Public Health agencies to help keep citizens informed about air quality impacts from the unprecedented levels of smoke from wildfires in Washington the last few weeks.  Please let us know if you have questions or concerns and we’ll try to get an answer up as soon as possible.  Click on the comments link at the bottom of this post to ask your question.

Thanks and stay safe!

9/28/12 930 Ecology's Friday smoke conditions and weather forecast

Washington Department of Ecology news

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Sept. 28, 2012

Air quality erodes in some communities; may improve over weekend 

OLYMPIA – Continuing wildfire smoke has driven air quality into the “hazardous” and “very unhealthy” ranges in several Central Washington communities, according to the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology).

This morning (Friday, Sept. 28, 2012), a newly relocated air monitor showed air quality was “hazardous” in Liberty. Air also was “hazardous” in Cashmere, and “very unhealthy” in Wenatchee and Trout Lake. Entiat experienced “unhealthy” air; Pateros and Quincy were in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range.

Air quality in most locations across Eastern Washington registered as “moderate” to “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Only Colville, Wellpinit and Dayton are experiencing “good” air quality.

Many communities are experiencing a pattern – smoke clears in the mid- to late afternoon so air quality improves, then smoke builds up again overnight and air quality deteriorates.

Today’s forecast calls for winds to increase this evening as a weakening cold front moves into Eastern Washington. Weekend winds are expected to move smoke out of the region.

However, said Ecology forecaster Clint Bowman, “there is no precipitation in the forecast sufficient to affect the wildfires, and smoke will continue to be an air quality problem into next week as the surface winds subside.”

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

Gov. Chris Gregoire has banned all outdoor burning in Eastern Washington through midnight Sunday. The ban does not apply to tribal lands where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has jurisdiction.

More information:

·        Joint blog on wildfire smoke and related information (http://wasmoke.blogspot.com)

·        Check for air quality monitoring information (www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/air_monitoring_data/WAQA_Intro_Page.html)

·        Washington Department of Health smoke information (www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom.aspx)

9/28/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

9-28-12 Air Monitor Update 0800 PDT

Central Region Ecology Air Quality Report                  Chelan County: Wenatchee- Hazardous Leavenworth- Unhealthy Chelan- Unhealthy for sensitive groups Okanogan County: Omak - Moderate Winthrop – Unhealthy for sensitive groups Twisp-  Moderate Kittitas County: Ellensburg- Very Unhealthy Yakima County: Yakima- Unhealthy for sensitive groups White Swan-Unhealthy for sensitive groups Toppenish- Unhealthy for sensitive groups          Klickitat County: Goldendale- Moderate Eastern Region Ecology Air Quality Report Blue Mt. Area Clarkston  -  unhealthy for sensitive groups Dayton  -   good Walla Walla  -  moderate Palouse Area Pullman  -  unhealthy for sensitive groups Rosalia  -  moderate LaCrosse  -  moderate Northeast Colville  -  good Wellpinit  -  good

Central Washington Air Quality Report from Forest Service Temporary Monitor Locations Chelan County: Wenatchee(Confluence Park)- “Very Unhealthy” Cashmere- “Hazardous” Entiat- “Unhealthy” Okanogan County: Pateros- “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” Grant County: Quincy-  “Unhealthy for sensitive groups” Kittitas County: Liberty - “Hazardous” Klickitat County Trout Lake- “Very Unhealthy” Eastern cont., Ecology Air Quality Report Columbia Basin Kennewick  -  moderate Mesa  - moderate  Moses Lake  - moderate Ritzville  - moderate Spokane Area Spokane, - unhealthy for Sensitive groups Liberty Lake - unhealthy for Sensitive Groups

Another very useful webpage for a grab hourly and 24 hour data, Puget Sound Clean Air and their air quality tool: http://airgraphing.pscleanair.org/

Remember the Eastern Washington Burn Ban remains effective through Sunday, September, 30, 2012.

9/28/12 Wildfire Smoke Forecast 0800 PDT

Air Quality forecast, 8AM Friday 28 September 2012
Issued by, Clint Bowman, Washington State Dept. of Ecology

The air quality in Liberty and Cashmere registered as Hazardous this morning. While Wenatchee and Trout Lake came in as Very Unhealthy.  Much cleaner, but still Unhealthy, Entiat.

Pateros and Quincy were in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.  The past few days have had a good diurnal (daily) cycle of clearing in mid to late afternoon with increasing concentrations peaking just before sunrise.

On across Eastern Washington most locations are experiencing Moderate to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups air quality.  Only Colville, Wellpinit, and Dayton are in the Good air quality area.

Today expect the air quality to start out much the same as yesterday before a weakening cold front kicks up winds this evening.  Over this weekend the mid-level winds will gradually increase and gradually work their way downward to begin to move the smoke out of the region.  There is no precipitation in the forecast sufficient to affect the wildfires and smoke will continue to be an air quality problem into next week as the surface winds subside.

Air Quality Alerts are in effect for Eastern Washington <https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=201209272323-KOTX-AEUS76-AQAOTX>

The Governor has extended a burn ban on all outdoor burning in eastern Washington through midnight Sunday.

Ecology Air Quality Monitoring Network Map: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.ltr.aspx

  - when browsing the monitoring web page, 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 grey