I was just marveling last week at how incredibly blue northwest skies are.
When they’re not shrouded in clouds they are so blue. Like this.
But when a million acres of forest burns in the nearby mountain range (the Cascades) and winds blow fire and smoke toward Interstate 5, you end up with this:
[Portland, Oregon wildfire smoke on Friday September 11]
Portland has the worst air quality in the world
Maybe you’ve experienced a scratchy throat.
Perhaps your eyes are watering.
Or you might have googled “How to eliminate indoor smoke smell” to discover that boiling rosemary should do the trick.
This is happening because those in Portland and other parts of the I-5 corridor have spent more than 48 hours (and counting) on a list they never expected to be on. The list of worldwide cities with the worst air quality.
IQAIR.com tracks air quality around the globe. As I write this, Portland continues to have the worst air quality in the world. And guess which cities are right on our heals? Vancouver, BC, is smoked in with the second-worst air quality. Seattle skies are full of smoke with the third-worst air quality on the planet. And San Francisco almost made it onto the medal podium: the Bay Area has the 4th worst air quality in the world.
The west has been burning.
How long will Portland have the worst air quality in the world?
I’ve been getting questions about the smoke. Not about where it came from but instead, “How long is this going to stick around?”
After looking at the forecast models which predict air currents (among other things), I think those of us in the Willamette Valley and most of Southwest Washington will see little change until later Monday. At least.
This is because we are “stuck in the muck” – our now cooled and extremely smokey air is close to the surface and we need a storm system to arrive, bring some wind at the surface, and sweep it out of our skies.
Side note: after hearing this explanation, one of our kids suggested that if everyone in Portland opened their front door and aimed a box fan at the sky, maybe we could clear the smoke sooner! I love the creativity.
If you live along the coast, I do believe your smoke will be thinning out on Sunday thanks to a little more air movement.
Is more smoke filling Portland skies?
At the upper levels of the atmosphere, there is finally some good news west of the Cascades. The airflow has shifted and
I’ve seen some incredible things over the last few days on the satellites that track smoke and clouds. Like the fact that wildfire smoke blew in a massive cloud more than 1,200 miles offshore. And notice the areas east of the Cascades in Oregon and how clear they were during this past week while the west side was getting smokier.
White = clouds. Brown = smoke.
And on Saturday, smoke from wildfires in Oregon was blowing to the Northeast. This shift will at least limit additional smoke west of the Cascades. However, this is why those of you east of the Cascades are seeing smoke again. In California, smoke is blowing to the Northwest right now, which won’t help the Bay Area.
A weak system is approaching the Northwest on Monday, which will really clear that smoke along the coast. But for the I-5 corridor, the strength of the system will determine how much smoke we kick out of here and how quickly. But I am optimistic it will at least be strong enough to end our time “stuck in the muck.”
Raise your hand if you’re ready for this change…
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