The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency warned Wednesday morning that air quality in Seattle has reached unhealthy levels in the central city due to smoke from nearby wildfires.

The agency said that shifting winds have redirected a plume of smoke from the nearby Bolt Creek Fire along Highway 2 near Index.

This morning we are seeing air quality that is UNHEALTHY for everyone in downtown and north Seattle from a plume of smoke from the Bolt Creek fire. Winds are blowing from Skykomish west to Everett then south to downtown. Stay indoors when possible.

Forecasters believe this bout of smoke could be short-lived — for now. “By mid-morning or early afternoon, the westerly/northwestly winds should pick up and push the smoke out of the area by late afternoon,” the latest update from PSCA reads.

The warning follows hazy and sometimes unhealthy days in the city earlier this month when the fire was first sparked.

As of Tuesday, the fire was reported as nearly 80% contained.

You can follow updates on air quality 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.

UPDATE: The National Weather Service says weather conditions beyond wind are exacerbating the situation.

“We have a stronger temperature inversion trapping the polluted air close to the surface compared to yesterday,” @NWSSeattle posted. “Inversions become more common during longer, clear nights as we enter the fall/winter seasons.”

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.