“I haven’t seen smoke this thick out here in years, the light makes me feel like I’m on Mars!”
That is what Mike Swaja posted on my Facebook Weather Page.
I have to agree–skies are looking other-worldly for many of us right now. In this picture, you’d normally have a clear view of Mt. Hood but it (and most of the orange sun) are lost on the smoke.
Smoke that many of us are smelling right now.
Frankly, this is the kind of thing those living east of the Cascades have to deal repeatedly with many summers. But today, winds in the atmosphere switched to what we call ‘an offshore flow.’ This means the air is coming from the east and blowing toward the shore. In other words, from the east sides of Oregon and Washington toward our beautiful beaches.
Caught in the middle? Seattle, Vancouver, Portland, Salem, etc. How much smoke you get, of course, depends on what is upstream of you in the wind department. Here’s the Visible Satellite loop from late morning on Saturday August 22, 2015. The white is the smoke coming our way. Portland is approximately under the ‘play’ button.
Air quality was still in pretty good shape for many of us on Saturday morning, despite smelling the smoke. Here’s a site for checking air quality at your house right now.
Offshore flow–along with hazy and smoky skies at times–will continue through the weekend. What a difference from last night.
Look at that blue sky. Someone was doing sky-writing. You sure would not see any of the letters today!
I use to work outside in south Florida doing traffic signals (no really, everything). I’d plant the poles, mix the concrete, install the steel span wires, wire the cabinets, hang the signals and wire them too. My face got too familiar, as the network’s knew I had a voice and could explain myself well on camera.
One dry summer (and yes we had bad ones) someone set the everglades on fire. You can’t put out a glades fire except when the rains come. I was downtown Fort Lauderdale when one of the local network reporter sticks a microphone in my face and asks the big question, “does this smoke bother you to work in?” I answered truthfully as I had been in airconditioning for about 15 years and always got sick. I said, “No. I know it’s going to rain soon and it’ll be okay.” Heck, you couldn’t see across the street….
Paul:
Nice work! You’ve just gotta love those tv reporters, don’t you?
And this was back when they had these 1500 watt lights. You’d have your back turned while it’s dark with a flashlight in your mouth trying to see when those lights come on. I’m glad I was awake or I would have jumped 10 feet or more.
It reminds me of what we saw in Vancouver BC back in early July.