The sun sets behind haze over Mossyrock last week.
Lingering wildfire smoke in Western Washington triggered an air quality alert Tuesday, but relief may be close at hand as westerly winds are forecasted to clear the skies again soon.
Much of the smoke that has blanketed the region is from wildfires in British Columbia, said National Weather Service meteorologist Art Gaebel.
“We look to see a gradual decrease from this point forward,” he said. “As we get later in the week, we should be smoke free. We pretty much maxed out here (Tuesday).”
Smoky conditions early this week created the worst air quality conditions seen in Washington this year, said Andy Wineke, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Ecology’s Air Quality Program.
“Some smoke from fires, primarily in British Columbia, has moved down and affected the whole Puget Sound region,” Wineke said. “We are expecting the smoke we’re seeing right now in Western Washington to start to move out.”
Still, as of Wednesday evening, visibility and air quality data showed the smoke had yet to relent. The Washington Smoke Blog map maintained by Ecology, the Washington Department of Health and the U.S. Forest Service was an array of red and orange dots. Only a single green dot — indicating “good” conditions — was seen in Washington, on the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula.
Those conditions resulted in an air pollution advisory issued Tuesday by the Southwest Clean Air Agency. The agency’s monitor in Chehalis showed “unhealthy” levels of fine particle pollution as of Wednesday evening, a 162 value on its Washington Air Quality Advisory Tool. A value of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 is moderate and 101-150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups.
“When the air is unhealthy, then it’s a good idea to stay indoors when possible and limit how much physical activity you’re doing outside,” said Uri Papish, the agency’s executive director.
The Southwest Clean Air Agency’s advisory listed several other suggestions to those living under smoky conditions. Those include closing windows, running air conditioners on recirculation mode, avoiding driving and closing the windows when doing so and possibly wearing a N95 or N100 rated mask.
Those recommendations are especially important for sensitive groups, Wineke noted.
“The people most sensitive to wildfire smoke are the elderly, children, pregnant women and people with heart and lung issues,” he said. “If you can be indoors where you get some filtered air, that’s what you want to do.”
The health risks associated with the smoke are accompanied by the melancholy views caused by hazy conditions. Mount Rainier, which usually dominates much of Washington’s horizon, was scarcely even visible from inside the national park Tuesday, said Kevin Bacher, the park’s volunteer program manager.
“It’s just kind of something you half-imagine through the smoke,” he said.
As the Miriam Fire rages on near White Pass, visibility in that region has largely been obscured as well, said U.S. Forest Service recreation planner and wilderness manager Andrea Durham. That fire may be contained by Sept. 1. Meanwhile, lightning strikes over the weekend sparked dozens more fires throughout the state.
While conditions should clear up in the Lewis County area soon, the ongoing blazes mean the smoke might not be gone for good.
“The wildfire season is definitely not done,” Wineke said. “I would encourage everybody to keep an eye on air quality conditions.”
Papish said the wildfire conditions seen this week are the continuation of a trend.
“The last couple years have been a lot worse than previous years,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the worst air quality we’ve had this year.”
