Heavy Smoke & Unhealthy Air Quality Heading For Puget Sound

 Critical fire weather has continued in Western Washington, with record high temperatures today. Here's the main points as of 6:20 PM Thursday.

• High temperature records were set today, with highs 90-95 degrees
• Fire weather remains critical and the Sumner Grade Fire is 20% contained
• Heavy smoke from Oregon fires is moving in to Western Washington as winds shift from offshore to onshore
• This will degrade air quality to unhealthy levels across our area
• Cooler temperatures and rain still expected by Monday

Today (Thursday) was a hot day around Puget Sound. Here's a look at the high temperatures around the Sound today.

It is very rare to have temperatures of 90+ degrees in September, but today, highs of 90+ were widespread.

Now, let's take a look at the latest satellite image. You will see a huge wall of thick smoke from Oregon fires that is moving towards the Puget Sound area. You'll also see some smoke plumes from fires in Eastern Washington.

Let's focus on that smoke plume moving in from Oregon. You might be wondering why that smoke is coming here. It is because winds are shifting. For the past few days we have had winds from the north and east, drying things out and elevating fire danger. 

Now, the wind is shifting to an onshore wind, which is bringing the Oregon smoke inland from offshore. This is heavy smoke, potentially as bad or worse than the 2017 or 2018 smoke. Let's visualize this with the NOAA HRRR Smoke Model.

This is near surface smoke which is basically what it sounds like...smoke near the surface. The color key is down below. This forecast is 7 PM Thursday.

You see moderate surface smoke in the Puget Sound area, with heavy smoke creeping in near Olympia. Incredibly dense smoke over nearly all of Western Oregon and SW Washington.

Here is 8 AM Friday. Much different situation.

By 8 AM Friday the surface smoke is much heavier over Puget Sound. Air quality will be degraded already, and that trend will continue.

Here's 9 PM Friday. Smoke is even heavier near the surface in Puget Sound.

It is expected that this smoke will linger and likely get worse on the weekend. Here is one more view of smoke at 9 PM Friday. This is vertically integrated smoke. That means smoke that is in the atmosphere, like what is illuminated at sunset.

This forecast of vertically integrated smoke is for 5 AM Sunday.

Very heavy and thick smoke in the atmosphere above Washington. It will likely look like clouds and fog in some places.

As you can imagine, this will degrade air quality significantly. Forecasts right now call for unhealthy air quality in our region. Remember you can see our state's air quality at: https://www.airnow.gov/state/?name=washington

Or...if you are using a mobile device, search “EPA AirNow” in the iOS App Store or Google Play Store and download the free AirNow app. You can search for a location of your choice and see air quality observations and forecasts. The app logo is below.

Although overall fire weather conditions will improve, the incoming smoke will not help our situation. We will likely need to keep windows closed until Monday.

Additionally, the Air Quality Alert has been extended until 11 AM Monday. The alert is below.

One thing to keep in mind that the alert says is that smoke could get worse in the overnight hours, as lighter winds cause it to settle.

Rain is still expected next week, along with a chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday. This could change, but thunderstorms could be bad for lingering dry conditions, as one day of rain won't erase all dry conditions.