The Space Needle lurked through smoke-filled skies in 2020 (Image: CHS)
The National Weather Service doesn’t make it complicated. “It is both hot and smoky today,” the service reported Thursday. “Tomorrow is expected to also be hot and smoky for many areas. Make sure to drink plenty of water and take it as easy as possible.” It’s good advice as Seattle faces its first prolonged period of smoke-filled bad air quality.
Forecasts call for the high elevation smoke we’re seeing around the city Thursday to transition to heavy, surface level smoke Friday as Seattle’s “excessive heat” warning continues and weather patterns pull the wildfire smoke into the Puget Sound region.
The good news might be that temperatures will be moderated somewhat by the smoke’s solar shield. The bad news? Forecasts for terrible air quality for Friday and into the weekend:
Winds are bringing wildfire smoke into the Puget Sound region. We expect air quality to worsen today (Thursday) and reach levels UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS in many areas in the Puget Sound region. We expect smoke to continue or worsen on Friday. Some areas may have higher concentrations for short periods of time if additional smoke plumes move into the area. Smoke should begin to clear on Saturday.
There is hope this first burst of smoke season won’t be as long lasting as September 2020’s “smoke alert” when a ‘Super Massive’ smoke plume settled over Seattle — seen in the picture at the top of this post — from wildfires in Oregon and California. This time around, that wood smoke and ash you’re smelling is from fires in Eastern Washington and British Columbia. You can follow updates on the situation from pscleanair.gov.
You can also check out the fire.airnow.gov map to find community air quality sensors around Capitol Hill and the city and check to make sure you are prepared for whatever activities you have planned.
The 2021 heat is already taking its toll — thanks to CHS reader Todd for the picture
Officials recommend limiting outdoor activities while the smoke remains and keeping doors and windows closed. Also know that your COVID-19 masks won’t help with the smoke. The EPA has some tips on other ways to improve your air quality at home but if you haven’t already purchased an air filter system, there isn’t much help. If you’re feeling crafty, this DIY filter might be the way to go. Others are recommending draping a lightly damp towel over the back of your fan as a simple but only slightly effective DIY filter. Be careful mixing water, cloth, and electricity.
UPDATE: Readings from Friday morning
The smoke-filled skies mostly weren’t an issue in Seattle in 2019 but in 2018 we marked a week of poor air quality and grey skies starting in mid-August. In 2017, Seattle’s smoke season started in early August.
UPDATE: Friday’s AQI looks like it won’t rise above the 130s, fortunately. Seattle hit a “high daily average” of AQI 196 last year on Friday, September 11th — “more than 2.5 times the WHO daily target for PM2.5 exposure.”
- Washington Smoke Information
- Washington Air Monitoring Network and AirNow for current conditions
- WAMN Smoke Forecast
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Yeah, and the two days in a row of fires at camps along I-5 aren’t helping either…seriously, it’s hot as hell, wtf would you need a fire for? Shit is getting beyond ridiculous.
Cooking, I suppose.
Yes, shit is getting beyond ridiculous.Think bigger. You could be so much more creative. You could be blaming the camps directly for climate change or whatever else your little stone desires.
2 individual fires arent affecting you.
Until they cause a bigger fire in very dry conditions in an urban environment or an explosion like at Dearborn/I-5 a few months ago at an encampment.
Think bigger.
don’t compare a few humans cooking a meal to over a century of intensive exploitation and mismanagement of woodlands that were formerly managed sustainably for millennia by indigenous peoples
Your use of the Internet to post this message required electricity generated by a plant that, if it exploded, could kill a bunch of people.
Think bigger.
Well, at least we all have masks :(
I feel like the author was a bit imprecise. Single layer cloth won’t do much good but 3-5 layer KN95-style will, and 3M N95-with-valve masks are even better. However, they only catch particles, not smog gasses. They are still better for your lungs than nothing if you must be outside.
Yuck. This is getting to be a depressingly regular thing around here.