Smoke in western Washington today

Smoke plumes from the Buck Creek fire west of Lake Chelan got caught up in east winds and blew into northwest Washington, including Darrington and Arlington since Friday. Winds are now shifting to the northwest and area air quality should return to mostly Good once the residual smoke clears during the day.

Smoke from fires in the Olympic National Park south of Port Angeles drifted over the Seattle/ Tacoma/ Olympia area from Friday evening, but will dissipate during the day today. Forecast suggests air quality should be no worse than Moderate over the Seattle area at nighttime with clearing both east and west of the Cascades during the daytime over the next few days.

The above mentioned fires were ignited by lightning about a month ago and were smoldering lightly until recent hot weather energized them. Fire weather concerns remain through Sunday and Monday, west and east of the Cascades respectively.



Red Flag Warning    Fire weather watch

Burn bans, fire weather concerns and air quality

In spite of some active wildfires, statewide air quality is good at present and should not degrade much if we can get through the next few days without significant new fires. No thunderstorms are expected in the next week, so we must do our part to prevent any new, human- caused fires.


Much of the state is under red flag warnings, fire weather watches and excessive heat warnings between Thursday and Saturday. Fire concerns are mostly from strong, dry northerly winds. Periods of blowing dust in parts of the Columbia Basin are possible.



Pink = Red Flag Warning
Beige =  Fire Weather Watch
Brown= Excessive Heat Watch

A burn ban has been called on all state lands through the end of September.

8/3/2016 Air Quality Outlook

We’re seeing good air quality throughout most of the state today. Some areas immediately downwind of fires can expect smoke impacts and as weather begins to shift and settle back into lighter winds and higher temps.  We may see some regional impacts from fires in Idaho and Eastern Oregon. Please check the Idaho and Oregon smoke blogs for updated information on fires in those states.

NWS Area Forecast Discussion. SYNOPSIS...

Our winds will be lighter today as Tuesday's storm system moves out of the region. Temperatures today will be cooler than average, but readings will climb quickly Thursday and Friday. Highs on Friday will be in the 90s. A slow moving low pressure system will bring a return of cooler temperatures and the chance for widely scattered showers and thunderstorms over the weekend.

Excellent US Wildfire interactive mapping tool which includes weather alerts current fire information, videos of fires, fire perimeters and social media posts: 

http://www.esri.com/services/disaster-response/wildfire

WA State ambient air monitoring network

https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.ltr.aspx

Good ventilation forecasted throughout the day!