Wildfire Smoke Heading For Western Washington

Update on dangerous fire weather for Western WA will be posted by 10 PM tonight. Stay tuned!!

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Forecast models are indicating that smoke from California wildfires will move into Western Washington on Friday and Saturday.

Here's some information about the smoke given to me via Twitter from KIRO 7 Chief Meteorologist Morgan Palmer. He said, "Yes, [smoke is] likely Friday into Saturday. Most of the smoke will be aloft and quite visible but not severely impacting air quality though some degradation of surface air quality will happen." 

There's a couple key things to take away from this information. I listed three points below.

1. Smoke is likely Friday and Saturday.

2. Most smoke will be aloft, but it will be visible.

3. Some impact to air quality is expected, though it might not be much.

Here is a look at the NOAA HRRR Smoke model forecast for September 3rd at 12 PM (noon).

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The model shows moderate smoke over Western Washington. Most smoke will be upper-air smoke (aka smoke aloft). This makes for great sunsets and an orange sky at times, but not necessarily bad air quality. Smoke is likely to continue through Saturday. 

However, we will have to see what happens as winds change next week and smoke could mix down to the surface. Expect a blog post if it appears that smoke is getting worse.

Sunny weather and temperatures in the mid 80s to low 90s is still likely in the coming days. Some areas of scattered clouds are moving through Western WA tonight (Wednesday), but aren't associated with a weather system.

Temperatures begin getting quite warm on Thursday (see previous blog post for forecasts).

One more thing...the Evans Canyon Fire is burning in Eastern Washington. The map below shows the location of the fire.

The fire has burned 34,000 acres as of Wednesday night. 5 buildings have been destroyed and 900 residents have evacuated. Please keep residents in this area in your prayers. Some photos and updates on the Evans Canyon Fire can be reached here:

https://kimatv.com/news/local/evans-canyon-fire-grows-over-13000-acres-more-personnel-coming-to-help-fight-it

Winds in the area will decrease Thursday, hopefully limiting the fire's spread. It is 0% contained as of Wednesday night.