Dire Air Quality Warnings for Oregon and Washington State due to Wildfire Smoke
States in the Northwestern section of the US are experiencing unhealthy air quality brought on by the smoke from wildfires still waging along the western coast.
The AirNow.gov (Home of the U.S. Air Quality Index) website has interactive maps demonstrating the air quality (particulate matter content) situation as it stands across the nation. The following screenshot for September 12 shows how bad the situation was yesterday. You can see regions labeled as ‘unhealthy’ and ‘very unhealthy’.
A Twitter post from Oregon DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) features an illustration demonstrating the severity of the situation. Not different from that which we discovered on their site.
It reads: A Snapshot in Time: Below is an image of #airquality frm http://airnow.gov frm this morning. OR’s AQ sits entirely in the unhealthy-hazardous range.
A Snapshot in Time
Below is an image of #airquality frm https://t.co/DZHlGVAD0t frm this morning. OR’s AQ sits entirely in the unhealthy-hazardous range.
Pls continue to monitor air in yr region & take precautions. Find resources for doing so in our pinned tweet. #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/UwHMlE0U2i— OregonDEQ (@OregonDEQ) September 12, 2020
Forecast maps for today and tomorrow look somewhat promising but contain threatening levels of air quality.
Looking northward to Washington State conditions are just as concerning.
The Department of Ecology for Washington State has their own smoke forecast map. Much like that which was demonstrated above, their findings range from ‘unhealthy’ to ‘very unhealthy’.
Department of Ecology – State of Washington
Following, are related stories from news outlets:
- USA Today: Wildfires race across the West: Smoke poses health hazard to millions; unprecedented pollution in Oregon
- The Oregonian: Portland’s air quality is off the charts Sunday, and parts of Oregon are just as bad due to wildfires
- Washington Post: Dense smoke smothers Pacific Northwest, shutting residents indoors and complicating fire response
- King5 (of the Pacific Northwest): Washington State Fair vendors hit hard again as poor air quality forces closure of drive-thru food event
- The News Tribune: Inslee: 626,982 acres of Washington burned, air quality won’t improve before Monday
