(Photo courtesy of KOMO-TV)
That wildfire smoke all around us is going to hang out for a while longer, and it might return not long after it clears.
There are several factors bringing the smoke here, starting with the large Bolt Creek Fire along Highway 2 that’s still putting out a lot of smoke. Add to that the east-to-west air flow that’s now in transition to a west-to-east, or onshore flow and an inversion, with the day having started with air up higher 15-to-20 degrees warmer than at the surface. “So that doesn’t allow any movement in the lower levels,” says National Weather Service meteorologist, Dana Felton, “and it basically traps what’s below that inversion near the surface. We had smoke near the surface and, so, it’s trapped.” Felton says we’ll stay in that air flow transition for a little while. “It looks like it won’t be until later in the day on Thursday, when the onshore flow increases more that we’ll actually start to scour some of this smoke out of here.”
Felton says things are expected to switch back to an east-to-west or offshore flow over the weekend, which could mean more smoke pushed our way next week.
Remember, part of the reason you can see and smell the smoke is because it contains tiny particles that are extremely toxic and can lodge themselves deep in your lungs when you breathe them in. Those N95 masks you’ve been using for most of the pandemic can block most of those particles, so it’s a good excuse to use them for something other than protecting yourself from COVID.
