09/07/2015 Air Quality Forecast – NE Washington Regional Fires

Air Quality Forecast – NE Washington Regional Fires - Monday, September 7, 2015.

Prepared by:   Mark Fitch (mfitch@nps.gov) & Karen Dillman (kdillman@fs.fed.us)

Smoke Summary: Light downslope winds Monday turning to the SW in the afternoon. Inversion will cap smoke and minimize transport in the morning, lifting in the afternoon. A trend of warmer temperatures forecasted, with a slight chance of light scattered rain on Tuesday. Expect some elevated smoke levels in Republic from the north end of the North Star fire throughout the day.  Okanogan and Nespelem may see early morning impacts from local fires.
Site	Air Quality			Comments
	September 6 Sunday	September 7 Monday	September 8 Tuesday
Spokane Metro	Good	Good	Good
Davenport	Good	Good	Good
Colville	Good	Good	Good
Kettle Falls	Good	Good	Good
Wellpinit	Good	Good	Good
Inchelium	Good	Good	Good
Omak	Good	Good	Good
Orient	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Morning smoke settling in communities due to night inversions, clearing in afternoons.
Republic	USG	USG	Moderate
Tonasket	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Nespelem	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Disclaimer: Conditions may change quickly. These predictions are based on anticipated weather and fire activity.  The air quality outlook is based on data from automated instruments that have not been subjected to a quality assurance review. AQI’s estimated for sites with air monitors.

For up to date information about smoke in Washington State, visit http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/ 

For information on what each Air Quality Index color code means, visit the smoke blog, click on 

the “Smoke and Health” tab

09/06/2015 Air Quality Forecast for NE Washington Regional

Click here for a pdf of report

09/05/2015 Air Quality Forecast for NE Washington Regional

Click here to print the summary

Wildfire smoke forecast through Labor Day weekend

This week's dramatic improvement in eastern Washington's air quality will be partly sustained through the Labor Day weekend. "Partly" because it wont be as great as what we saw Monday through Thursday, but it wont be anywhere as bad as it was a week ago. Here's why:

Notice the huge improvement that occurred on Sunday 30 August, but also observe how some areas have started creeping up in the last day or so. These monitors are all located very close to the fires, and in spite of lower fire activity and an active weather pattern, the communities of Orient, Nespelem, Republic, Kettle Falls and Colville aren't seeing Good air at present. Air quality in these communities is not expected to be very different between now and Monday.

We might see some smoke from ID fires along the ID-WA border today but it shouldn’t linger beyond Saturday morning. However the Lewis- Clark valley might not clear out easily on Saturday so Moderate to USG conditions are possible there. Yakima, Klickitat and Benton Counties are likely to see Good air.

Sunday & Monday are likely to see mostly Good air except very close to the fires, though some Moderate to USG areas at night - particular on Monday night- are likely.

A ridge of high pressure is expected to build from Tuesday- Thursday next week, bringing sunshine, warmer temperatures and light winds. Unfortunately this does not bode well for air quality.

September 4, 2015 - Air Quality Summary Report - NE Washington Area Command Fires

Note the new contact information in today's report, the last from Leland Tarnay and Daniel Stratton. Mark Fitch and Karen Dillman will be taking over.  Thanks for all your help and support!

Download a PDF of this summary here

Here is a map of activity yesterday

Afternoon MODIS visible satellite actually picked up yesterday's smoke.

About 30-40 tons of PM10 (the particles that compise smoke) were released from this activity, from a total of 200-300 acres of firing. This is a small amount compared to the 1000's of tons of PM10 (tens of thousands of acres) per day that went up in smoke during the periods of large fire growth last week.  

Some impacts at Kettle Falls, Orient, and Republic were evident yesterday as a result:

This set of monitors (from http://smoke.airfire.org/monitoringReport) can be refreshed and/or viewed directly here, and more detailed graphs can be viewed by clicking the "generate reports" button.

This morning's model run captures this pattern fairly well, for the current "nowcast,"

Tomorrow's pattern is slightly different, with impacts to the SE of the fires in the evening, possibly putting some smoke in Davenport and even Spokane, though at these emissions levels, impacts would likely be in the moderate range.

Air Quality Forecast - Chelan Lake & Methow Valley Fires - Friday, September 4, 2015

Air Quality Forecast - Chelan Lake & Methow Valley Fires - Friday, September 4, 2015

Prepared by:   Carolyn Kelly (ckelly8384@gmail.com)

Note that this will be the final report for this area. Please check current monitor status for up to date information. Friday: More windy weather with a slight chance of rain will bring continued good air quality through today and into tomorrow. Areas closest to the fires may smell smoke at times due to smoldering. Saturday: Depending on fire activity, areas nearest the fires may smell and/or see smoke impacts. Breezy winds will lessen the effects.
Site	Air Quality			Comments
	September 3 Yesterday	September 4 TODAY	September 5 Saturday
Chelan	Good	Good	Good
Manson	Good	Good	Good
Winthrop	Good	Good	Good
Twisp	Good	Good	Good
Brewster	Good	Good	Good	Brewster may see some patchy smoke Friday evening which will clear out.
Leavenworth	Good	Good	Good
Wenatchee	Good	Good	Good
Disclaimer: Conditions may change quickly. These predictions are based on anticipated weather and fire activity.  The air quality outlook is based on data from automated instruments that have not been subjected to a quality assurance review. AQI’s estimated for sites with air monitors.

Campbell's Resort Lake Chelan Webcam: http://www.campbellsresort.com/webcam

For other views and information about Lake Chelan, visit:  www.GoLakeChelan.com.

For information on what each Air Quality Index color code means, click on the “Smoke and Health” tab.

Washington Wildfire Fly Through 9-2-2015 @ 7:45PM PDT

Here is a google earth-based fly through of the fires around Washington state...well worth watching!

Air Quality Summary Report - NE Washington Area Command Fires Thursday, September 3, 2015

 

Download the PDF here

Air Quality Forecast - Chelan Lake & Methow Valley Fires - Thursday, September 3, 2015

Air Quality Forecast - Chelan Lake & Methow Valley Fires - Thursday, September 3, 2015

Prepared by:   Andrea Holland (andreahollandsears@gmail.com) & Carolyn Kelly (ckelly8384@gmail.com)             

Thursday: More wind and cooling temperatures can be expected today through tomorrow. The trend of good air quality will continue. Friday: Breezy winds and a chance of light rain on some of the local fires can be expected. Air quality will remain good through the end of the week and into the weekend.
Site	Air Quality			Comments
	September 2 Yesterday	September 3 TODAY	September 4 Friday
Chelan	Good	Good	Good	Limited fire activity, if any, expected in the next few days.
Manson	Good	Good	Good
Winthrop	Good	Good	Good
Twisp	Good	Good	Good
Brewster	Good	Good	Good
Leavenworth	Good	Good	Good
Wenatchee	Good	Good	Good
Disclaimer: Conditions may change quickly. These predictions are based on anticipated weather and fire activity.  The air quality outlook is based on data from automated instruments that have not been subjected to a quality assurance review. AQI’s estimated for sites with air monitors.

For information on what each Air Quality Index color code means, click on the “Smoke and Health” tab.