When will the haze and smoke start to clear west of the Cascades?
Air quality is still in the moderate to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range in much of Puget Sound this evening but we will have slowly improving air west of the Cascades soon.
KIRO 7 Now
Air quality is still in the moderate to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range in much of Puget Sound this evening but we will have slowly improving air west of the Cascades soon.
We’re waking up to another smoky start across Western Washington, with air quality ranging from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups, and some locations briefly reaching the unhealthy category. While there are still pockets of better air, more communities are dealing with reduced air quality this morning than cleaner conditions.
After a few days of mainly lighter wind flow – which allowed smoke to spread and plague much of the state – westerly, onshore winds are going to be increasing into Friday and the weekend.
Several large fires are burning in central and eastern Washington as we head into the weekend, with most of them ignited by lightning around the middle of July.
Statistically speaking, the last week of July and the first week of August is the driest time in Western Washington. It’s why tourists teem, the Blues fly in, and hydros race on Lake Washington.
Multiple wildfires in the Cascades and points east will continue to affect some locations of central and eastern Washington with wildfire smoke over the coming days.
Critical fire threats exist this weekend into early next week east of the Cascades, where numerous new fires from lightning this week will burn and spread along with larger fires that have been testing firefighters for days.
Air quality has cleared up east of the Cascades with fresher air and onshore flow. It’ll be a quiet night with some marine layer clouds moving in for Saturday morning.
KIRO 7 meteorologists are calling for Pinpoint Alert Days on Tuesday and Wednesday because the heat and the haze might be a little much to handle for some in Western Washington.
Today is a PinPoint Alert Day as the hottest weather we’ve seen so far this month settles into Western Washington.