WeatherWatcher: Wildfire Smoke Season arrives, but should be short lived

 

Friday September 6, 2024 True Color Satellite imagery from the UW department of Atmospheric Science

As you may have noticed yesterday and today, the sky is hazy, sunrises and sunsets were very red and dim, and it's quite warm. The above visible color satellite image from Friday afternoon shows all the hazy smoke covering the Pacific Northwest. 

We have a heat advisory in place that expires at 11pm Friday evening. The heat and smoke are the result of south-easterly winds. These winds are bringing the warmth and wildfire smoke over the mountains from central and eastern Oregon.

Below is an image from Wednesday where I've highlighted the two major sources of wildfire smoke in Oregon, and a third much smaller source of wildfire smoke in Washington.

Satellite image from Wednesday September 4, 2024 at 5:30pm PDT.
Image from the UW department of Atmospheric Science.

Conditions over central Oregon were favorable mid-week for wildfire activity to explode. It seems to have calmed down today significantly but all that smoke is circulating aloft now. Heating during the day today and this weekend is expected to cause some of that smoke to mix down to the surface.

Air quality as of Friday afternoon was just barely into moderate territory but is expected to get a little bit worse possibly through Friday evening and Saturday.

Lake Forest Park Town Center air quality from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency

Forecast: On-shore winds will start to pick up overnight into Saturday morning, but weak at first. These winds should start slowly bringing cooler and cleaner air into the Puget Sound region through the weekend. We should be back to normal with all the smoke cleared out between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon. 

Morning clouds, afternoon sun, and temperatures back down to seasonal normal with highs near 70°F should also return by Monday. There is even a threat of some rain showers Tuesday and Wednesday. We bring back sunny skies Thursday and Friday to end the week.

For current weather conditions please visit www.shorelineweather.com