Whatcom skies still clearing — will we be able to enjoy the outdoors this weekend?
Air quality in Whatcom County continues to improve Thursday, Sept. 17, as forecasters predict a storm will clear the wildfire smoke that’s fouled the skies for more than week over the Puget Sound region.
“The recent general trend for slowly improving air quality continued overnight,” the National Weather Service office in Seattle tweeted at 6 a.m. “There are even some locations toward the coast that have improved into the ‘good’ category.”
An air quality alert was extended until 10 a.m. Saturday, but forecasts call for gradually improving air quality as rainy weather nears.
“Smoke will continue to linger across the region today, however some slight improvement could be seen as this next (storm) system traverses the region,” the weather service tweeted in its online forecast discussion Thursday morning.
Forecasts call for widespread smoke and fog until late Thursday morning, followed by mostly cloudy conditions with high temperatures around 70 degrees.
Expect showers and possibly thundershowers on Friday, with highs in the upper 60s.
Current readings
Bellingham’s air quality index was 181 at 9 a.m. Wednesday, improving overnight to the “unhealthy” level of 151-200 but below the “hazardous” level of 300 where it had been earlier this week, according to a Northwest Clean Air Agency monitoring station.
Air quality also was in the “unhealthy” range in Ferndale at 187, in the Lynden/Custer area at 157, and in Maple Falls at 150.
Smoke particles were the key pollutant.
According to the app “Sh**t! I Smoke,” Whatcom County’s air quality has improved to the point where its effect on most people’s health was like smoking 2.5 cigarettes Thursday. That is down from the equivalent of nearly seven cigarettes on Monday.
Computer forecast models from NOAA and FireSmoke Canada show smoke from wildfires in California and Oregon clearing on Friday.
Worst air since 2018
“Air quality in the Pacific Northwest is some of the worst in the world this week, with Portland, Oregon, on the top of the list and Seattle coming in at No. 4,” the state Department of Ecology tweeted Wednesday.
Many Washington residents are enduring the worst air quality recorded since August 2018, according to Ecology data.
While the smoky air from wildfires in 2017 and 2018 lasted longer, the overall air quality has been worse over the past week, Ecology said in its Smoke Blog.
“Washingtonians have not spent as much time breathing compromised air this year compared to 2017 and 2018,” Ecology said. “However, the amount of time we have spent breathing ‘hazardous’ air is unprecedented. Even if we look as far back as 2006, we don’t see ‘hazardous’ conditions occurring for anywhere as long.”
COVID tests resume
Drive-thru testing resumed Wednesday after cancellations since Friday, Sept. 11, because of smoke, Whatcom Unified Command said in a statement.
No testing sites were scheduled Thursday.
Staff and volunteers now have respiratory protections against smoke, and patients in cars should keep windows closed until they are tested and use recirculating air in their vehicles while waiting in line.
Library services
At the Whatcom County Library System, curbside pickup resumed at all branches Wednesday.
Bellingham Public Library has canceled its curbside pickup services through Friday, Sept. 18.
Burn bans in effect
Officials at the Northwest Clean Air Agency issued last week an indefinite “stage two” burn ban that outlaws all outside fires, including recreational fires and campfires, in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties.
Fire officials in Whatcom County and the cities of Bellingham and Ferndale issued similar burn bans. Propane barbecues and propane fire pits without wood are allowed, however.
County officials also closed the Plantation Rifle Range in an effort to avoid sparking a wildfire.
Power outages
Sudden Valley Community Association alerted residents in the Gate 9 and Gate 13 area off Lake Louise Road that there would be power outages lasting at least six hours on Thursday and Monday for some homes.
A Puget Sound Energy official said the work was being performed by a contractor for the homeowners association.
Outages were because of planned construction work, according to the homeowners association website.
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 7:37 AM.
