Kittias and Yakima county getting hammered with smoke; little improvement expected before Monday

Unfortunately several cities in Yakima and Kittitas counties got slammed with a lot more smoke than expected today. Conditions in Cle Elum and Toppenish were Very Unhealthy this morning, leading to the cancellation of some sporting events.

A colleague sent in this picture of haze-laden skies in Yakima.

Sections of plumes from the Norse Peak appear to have combined with the Jolly Mountain fire plumes and smoked out the Kittitas and Yakima valleys, as seen in this satellite loop. Not much wind in the forecast today & tomorrow to disperse the smoke, so brace for more of the same, namely mostly Unhealthy air throughout most of Kittitas and Yakima counties through Sunday night. Periods of Very Unhealthy or even Hazardous conditions cannot be ruled out. Things should start to improve by Monday morning as northeast winds pick up a little.

Also notice this morning's MODIS satellite image showing Oregon plumes making a two-pronged approach toward southwest and southeast WA, the former using the Pacific route. 

Smoke in the southeastern WA plume could hit the Lewis- Clark valley, Walla Walla and the Tri Cities later today, leading to air that is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups between now and Sunday evening.

While the Pacific smoke patch isnt much of threat right now, it is a little harder to predict- will have to wait for the smoke models to run on Sunday morning before we know.

Rest of the forecast issued yesterday is mostly on track.

Every1's askin' about da long weekend

Lets take it one day at a time, because conditions won't remain the same everyday. Except near the fires where it will be cruddy all along. This time too, it is smoke from our own WA fires. Here's a picture of the Norse Creek fire plumes near Chinook Pass snapped by a colleague who jetted eastward on Thursday evening. Not pretty! And weather conditions favor more smoke production all weekend.



BC and OR fires are still burning but smoke wont make its way here this weekend.
OK here goes- bear with the details, which are subject to change:

Friday

Area	Air Quality forecast	Notes
All of western WA	Good
Far eastern WA and Cascade foothills of eastern WA	Moderate/ Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups with some improvement during the day	Cle Elum, Naches and the Methow could see Unhealthy air at night. Newport and Metaline Falls should expect USG air.
Columbia Basin	Good/ Moderate

Saturday and Sunday
Winds slacken, some models show light east winds spilling a teeny-weeny bit of smoke over to the south Puget Sound. Lotsa smoke accumulation near the fires.

Area	Air quality forecast	Notes
All of western WA	Mostly Good	Eastern foothills of King, Pierce and Lewis counties could see a few Moderate hours
Far eastern WA and Cascade foothills of eastern WA	Moderate/ Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Cle Elum, Naches, Chelan and the Methow could see Unhealthy air or worse. Newport, Metaline Falls, Ellensburg, Yakima, Leavenworth and Wenatchee will likely remain in USG.
Columbia Basin and southeast WA	Good/ Moderate

Monday
Few smoke models go out that far. Best indications (see 2000ft winds predicted by the European weather model below) are that moderate east winds will develop in far eastern and northern WA to disperse locally accumulated smoke. But these east winds will cause some smoke to dam up against the Cascades and bleed across to western WA.

Area	Air quality forecast	Notes
Puget sound lowlands and Lewis county	Good/ Moderate	Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia could see Moderate air by evening
Rest of western WA	Mostly Good
Far eastern WA	Good/ Moderate	Moderate near Newport, Metaline Falls and the Lewis- Clark valley. Good in Spokane
Eastern WA Cascade foothills	Moderate/ USG/ Unhealthy	Mostly Moderate in the Methow, Omak and Chelan. Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cle Elum, Ellensburg and Yakima could regularly see USG or worse.
Lower Columbia Basin and southeast WA	Good/ Moderate

Wanna get away from the smoke? Cash in on the warm temperatures and abundant sunshine, and head for the Olympic Peninsula or Washington coast. Now through Monday morning should be mostly smoke free. But plan on leaving by Monday afternoon before east winds start to bring some smoke over there.