9/13/2015_AirQuality Update NE Washington Regional Fires

09/12/2015_Air Quality Update NE Washington Regional Fires

Air Quality Update for NE Washington Regional Fires, September 10, 2015

Mark Fitch (mfitch@nps.gov) ) Air Resource Advisors

 

The picture below is of the BlueSky prediction model for smoke dispersion from the North Star firing operations and flare-ups for 5 P.M. today. Smoke from the North Star is lingering over the burn area, drifting to the northeast, as the west-southwest winds as a cold front approaches.

 

The webcam from Republic shows smoke haze covers the town with reduce visibility.

 

09/12/2014-Air Quality Forecast NE Washington Regional Fires

09/11/2015 Smoke Monitor in Republic is Malfunctioning

The temporary smoke monitor that was placed in Republic has been malfunctioning today. It has been reading mostly zero's for smoke levels and the triangle on the map is green but we know that's not true. The current instrument is to be removed soon - perhaps later Friday evening - and then replaced with a working monitor on Saturday. In the meantime, the local webcam can give you an idea of conditions - during the daylight at least.
http://rcabletv.com/cam_republic.html

09/11/2015-Air Quality Forecast NE Washington Regional Fires

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09/10/2015 Air Quality Update-NE Washington Regional Fires

Air Quality Update for NE Washington Regional Fires, September 10, 2015

Mark Fitch (mfitch@nps.gov) and Karen Dillman (kdillman@fs.fed.us) Air Resource Advisors

 

The picture below is of the BlueSky prediction model for smoke dispersion from the North Star firing operations and flare-ups for 5 P.M. today. Smoke from the North Star is lingering over the burn area and we are monitoring it closely to see where it may travel, either into the town of Republic or to other low lying areas.

 

 

 

This picture is downtown Republic. The smoke from the firing operations is beginning to drift N to NE. This view is looking south.

 

 

09/10/2015-Air Quality Forecast, NE Washington Regional Fires

 

 

The air quality monitor in Tonasket had readings that were suspiciously high in the early morning hours so we plan to investigate this anomaly in the data today.

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Smoke outlook through Monday 14 September

Good air quality persists in most of eastern Washington although areas close to fires have been seeing patches of Unhealthy air. Recent rains, followed by cooler and cloudy weather has allowed firefighters to make good progress.

Here is a map of the total rainfall received statewide over the last 2 weeks. Not all wildfires in eastern WA got a good dousing, but crucially, weather conditions have not been conducive for fire growth and allowed firefighters to make much progress.

Warmer and drier weather through this weekend may allow some of these fires to become more active, although extreme fire behavior is not expected. Smoke production is likely to increase a little. Light winds with strong nighttime inversions will allow accumulated smoke to linger on. Light east winds are expected through the Columbia Basin and could transport a little smoke from Idaho into parts of eastern Washington. By Saturday, there could be several areas in the Columbia Basin and the Lewis-Clark Valley with Moderate or USG air quality.

However the forecast is for increased and cooler west-northwest winds Saturday evening through Monday, so that should help return air quality to mostly Good. Looks like a bigger, potentially season-ending rain event is on the cards for next Tuesday.

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

 

Click here to print this summary 

 

 

Webcam for a current snapshot of Republic  http://rcabletv.com/cam_republic.html

09/08/2015 Air Quality Forecast NE Washington Regional Fires