State Issues Air Quality Alert – UPDATED

— from National Weather Service —

UPDATE: August 9, 12 p.m.

The air quality alert that was in effect until noon Thursday has been extended until noon Friday.

A strong upper level ridge will keep a dry stable air mass over western Washington into Thursday. In the lower levels, weak onshore flow has resulted in some improvement in air quality along
the coast and areas near the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In the interior the low level flow is not strong enough to improve the air quality and with the winds right off the ground a bit northerly, conditions deteriorated during the day on Tuesday. Manyplaces in the interior from Seattle southward were reporting air in the unhealthy category Tuesday evening.

Northerly flow aloft will continue to transport smoke into western Washington from wildfires in British Columbia through at early Thursday. In addition, atmospheric ventilation in the interior lowlands of western Washington will remain poor. Weak lowlevel onshore flow will continue to bring better air quality to the coast and areas along the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The smoke and hazy skies will continue to plague western Washington for the next few days. A change to southwest flow aloft will begin late Thursday and continue into Friday. Initially the flow aloft will be light so it will take some time for improvements to occur. The increase in onshore flow at the lower levels will also take time to develop. For these reasons the air quality alert has been extended to noon Friday.

UPDATE: August 7, 10 a.m.

… An air quality alert continues through noon Thursday…

The strong upper level ridge over the region will maintain the dry stable air mass over western Washington through at least Thursday. Fortunately, an inversion aloft over the region is keeping most  of the smoke over western Washington aloft. Weak low level onshore flow last night and this morning brought some marine air inland  to areas around the Strait of Juan de Fuca and over the southwest interior, which has helped to improve air quality. Not much  marine air reached the central Puget Sound area leaving most sites in the moderate category.

Weak low level onshore flow will return the next few nights which should continue to yield better air quality north and south of  Puget Sound, leaving slightly worse air quality around Puget Sound.

The smoke and hazy skies will continue to plague western Washington for the next few days. A change to southwest flow aloft on Thursday may start to push the smoke out of the area.

UPDATE: August 6, 3:55 a.m.

… An air quality alert continues through noon Monday…

Weak onshore flow has been pushing cool clean marine air inland from the coast at low levels since early Saturday, and many air quality sensors across western Washington are reporting good air quality. Smoke still hovers above the shallow marine layer though, especially over the northern half of western Washington.

Smoke could settle back into The Lowlands of western Washington again today, from the smoke layer aloft or from wildfires in British Columbia or Washington. Models indicate that northerly flow aloft will likely cause that to happen, and ventilation of the air mass remains poor. If smoke increases, air quality will likely return to being unhealthy for sensitive groups — such as the elderly and people with respiratory ailments like asthma.

For more information including current air quality you can visit the following websites…

Wasmoke.Blogspot.Com
Airnow.Gov

UPDATE: August 5, 3:45 a.m.

… An air quality alert will continue through noon Monday…

Smoke from wildfires is expected to remain over western Washington through at least Monday, with air quality generally varying between moderate and unhealthy. People with respiratory  problems should limit outdoor activity and consult their physicians if necessary.

UPDATE: August 3, 4 p.m.

… An air quality alert will continue through Saturday…

Smoke from wildfires is expected to remain over western  Washington through at least through Saturday. Air quality on average will  be unhealthy for sensitive groups. People with respiratory problems should limit outdoor activity if possible.

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UPDATE: August 3, 4 a.m.

… An air quality alert will continue through Friday…

Smoke from wildfires is expected to remain over western Washington through Friday. Air quality on average will be unhealthy for sensitive groups. People with respiratory problems should limit
outdoor activity if possible.

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The Washington Department of Ecology has issued an air quality alert which is in effect until noon Thursday.

The smoke from wildfires in Washington and British Columbia has arrived. Air quality this morning across western Washington has reached locally unhealthy levels. Most areas have air that is in the category of unhealthy for sensitive groups. The sensor in Port Angeles at 7 am this morning is recording very unhealthy air.

Children and the elderly and especially those people with  respiratory illnesses are the most at risk of serious health effects and should limit outdoor activities.

For more information go to wasmoke.Blogspot.Com or speak with your physician.