Whatcom’s smoky skies persist for a second day. When will they clear?
Air quality around Whatcom County improved slightly Wednesday morning, Aug. 9, as smoke from Eastern Washington wildfires continued to drift west across the Cascades.
But the hazy skies were expected to linger through at least Friday according to new forecasts from the National Weather Service in Seattle, prompting a “stage two” burn ban in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties.
No outdoor burning is allowed in a stage two ban, including residential and agricultural fires, and recreational fires including campfires and fire pits. Home heating with fireplaces and uncertified wood stoves is also prohibited, according to a statement from the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
Agency officials said the ban will remain in place indefinitely because air quality can decrease quickly with a change in wind direction.
“This is only the second time in our 50-year history that we’ve called a stage two ban,” Northwest Clean AIr Agency spokesman Seth Preston told The Bellingham Herald. “The first was in August 2018.”
Smoke should clear by Friday or Saturday, when a persistent high-pressure ridge is expected move and allow cooler ocean air to flow over Western Washington, said Mary Butwin, a weather service meteorologist.
“This will switch the winds to be onshore rather than offshore,” Butwin told The Bellingham Herald. “It will pick up the marine moisture and decrease the relative humidity.”
Airborne particulate measurements at 10 a.m. Wednesday improved to good levels in Bellingham, in the Lynden/Custer area, and near Maple Falls, according to the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
In Ferndale, conditions improved from unhealthy for everyone to levels considered unhealthy for people with heart and lung conditions, for young children and for people over 65.
Readings at two Cherry Point monitoring stations at the state Department of Ecology website show the air quality was good, but they only measure for sulfur dioxide and not the fine particles in smoke, Preston said.
Modeling from NOAA and FireSmoke Canada showed smoke skirting southern portions of Whatcom County.
Butwin said a slight north breeze is helping to clear the air in Whatcom County, but it will get smoky again whenever the wind blows from the east.
Still, an air quality alert issued by the National Weather Service for Whatcom and other Western Washington counties was extended through Thursday morning, but “red flag” wildfire conditions of high heat and low humidity remain in effect until Thursday.
Those conditions are giving the Northwest unseasonably warm weather.
Sunny skies with a high near 80 were forecast for Wednesday and Thursday in Bellingham.
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 7:21 AM.
