What caused that hazy orange sunrise? You guessed it
Bellingham and much of Northwest Washington awoke to a hazy sunrise Wednesday, tinted orange by smoke from wildfires in western Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta.
Smoke could continue to drift across the state, but it is expected to stay high in the sky and air quality should remain good near the ground, a Northwest Clean Air Agency spokesman told The Bellingham Herald.
“We’re observing hazy skies over the region this morning as smoke from wildfires in Alberta usher into the area. Much of it looks to remain aloft and away from the surface, but it’ll continue to be monitored,” meteorologist Maddie Kristell of the National Weather Service in Seattle said in the online forecast discussion.
Air-quality readings around the state were mostly good at 10 a.m. Wednesday, with a few moderate readings at the state Department of Ecology website.
“Mostly sunny and warm conditions during the day will allow for good smoke dispersion to help to keep air quality conditions in the good category,” Seth Preston of the Northwest Clean AIr Agency told The Herald in a text message.
Forecast models for both FireSmoke Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show high-level smoke drifting across Washington state for the next several days.
Air quality is expected to remain good near the ground, according to current forecasts.
This story was originally published May 17, 2023 at 10:35 AM with the headline "What caused that hazy orange sunrise? You guessed it."
