Not much to worry about locally for now. Will this be a low-smoke summer?

Air quality remains Good statewide and will likely remain that way for the next few days. Some rain expected (< 0.5", but that's a lot for WA in July) and clouds are already streaming in, with temperatures running close to normal. Not great for summer but very good for air quality.

Here's how air quality looks nationally as of yesterday. Red triangles are fire locations and colored dots are air quality readings, the worst of which is "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups". Smoke plumes are shaded gray.

The Great Lakes and Northeast is being impacted by smoke from fires in Manitoba & Ontario, while Alaskan smoke is what we're watching closer to home.

Here's what the fire danger assessment for north America is today. The bigger fires are mostly in Canada & Alaska thanks to very dry & hot conditions to our north.

What does this all mean for the rest of our summer? Are all those doom & gloom predictions of the "new normal" and smoke monsters laid to rest?

1. Haha, I wish! Too early to tell.
2. All it takes is two weeks of hot & dry conditions for the fire risk to ramp up significantly. 
3. Even if (2) doesn't materialize, smoke transport from fires elsewhere can cause lots of air quality woes.
4. And we won't know about (3) until a few days before the event, because longer range models aren't terribly accurate with those finer details.

So while enjoying the summer air, keep an eye on this blog. We'll do our best to keep you posted.

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