Alert issued as Whatcom County braces for first unhealthy air of wildfire season
Bellingham and Whatcom County could be in for its first seriously smoky days of the season this weekend as shifting winds send unhealthy air toward Western Washington.
An air quality alert was issued Friday afternoon.
Prediction models from both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and FireSmoke Canada show smoke drifting toward Bellingham from fires in the North Cascades and on Vancouver Island.
“The low level flow will turn offshore Saturday morning and continue into Sunday. This flow pattern may spread wildfire smoke into Western Washington with potential air quality impacts,” meteorologist Jacob DeFlitch said in the Seattle forecast discussion at the National Weather Service website.
Officials at the Northwest Clean Air Agency said on social media that air quality will be harmful for infants and toddlers, the elderly and people who suffer from respiratory conditions such as asthma.
“Air-quality conditions are expected to be in the good to moderate range early Saturday but degrade to unhealthy for sensitive groups to very unhealthy on Saturday evening and into Sunday,” the agency said on Facebook.
“Smoke impacts are expected to last at least through Monday. At this time, it is uncertain when the smoke will begin to clear out,” the agency said.
Meteorologists in Seattle believe that winds should turn onshore by Monday.
But winds might not be strong enough to dilute smoke significantly until later in the week, the clean air agency said.
This story was originally published August 18, 2023 at 12:01 PM.
