When will there be relief? Rain, wind system too weak to move wildfire smoke out of Seattle
The wind didn't come, and the rain looks to be delayed.
So, when will there be relief?
In Seattle and the rest of the Pacific Northwest, the air quality has been "moderate" to "very unhealthy" for the past week, since wildfires in all three West Coast states raged in unprecedented volume. Those working outdoors have suffered stinging eyes and even coronavirus-like symptoms. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people to limit their time indoors, and now the dome of smoke is sending them back in.
For the past few days, Seattle and Portland have gone back and forth as the cities with the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir. However some smaller cities in Oregon have reached air quality index numbers that were twice that of Portland. Spokane had a reading of 499, breaking its record, the Spokesman-Review reported Sunday.
The relief was supposed to come Monday, as a weather system with cleaner marine air would come in, blowing the smoke away, according to the National Weather Service. But, in a blog post, the Washington State Department of Ecology put the blame for little improvement on the weather system flattening as it reached the coast, and any progress it did make will likely be erased by light southerly winds hauling smoke directly from Oregon fires along the Interstate 5 corridor.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/when-will-there-be-relief-rain-wind-system-too-weak-to-move-wildfire-smoke-out-of-seattle/ar-BB191IlG?ocid=hplocalnews
While not as stinky as the last couple days the air quality around here could still use some improvement.