The Washington Department of Ecology says the air quality is unhealthy in Vancouver. That’s due, in part, to smoke from wildfires in California that settled over the area.
According to the department’s monitoring site at Northeast 84th Avenue, the air is slightly above being unhealthy for sensitive groups.
The Washington Smoke Information blog is showing similar conditions.
Sensitive groups include people with asthma, diabetes or heart conditions; young children and adults over 65; and pregnant women. These groups are encouraged to limit spending time outside.
The conditions are the result of a combination of factors. Winds pushed some of the smoke from a deadly wildfire in Northern California north through Oregon and into the Portland-Vancouver area, said weather service meteorologist Matthew Cullen.
The massive wildfire in California has killed at least 56 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Hope is fading in the search for more than 100 other residents reported missing.
As of Wednesday evening, the deadliest wildfire in California’s history has destroyed more than 10,300 structures and scorched 138,000 acres in Butte County, according to the Associated Press. It was 35 percent contained, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials.
The disaster is making air quality worse here, but smokey skies elsewhere in the local area, such as Multnomah County, also have to do with woodstoves, Cullen said.
Later Thursday, the Southwest Clean Air Agency issued a burn ban in Clark County and air quality advisories for nearby Cowlitz and Lewis counties.
“Smoke from indoor and outdoor wood burning and forest fires have led to increasing levels of fine particle air pollution in” the three counties, the agency said in a news release. “Colder nights followed by limited daytime ventilation and dispersion have caused fine particle air pollution levels to rise toward the federal health-based standard.”
The conditions are forecasted to last through 8 a.m. Saturday morning. The burn ban will expire at the same time.
On Wednesday, a cold front moved into the metro, bringing with it low clouds and fog. The haze was generally higher in the atmosphere.
“There were a lot of different things going on,” Cullen said.
And the direction of winds have since changed. An onshore front is blowing west to east, he said.
Patchy fog in Vancouver should last until about 10 a.m. It should otherwise be cloudy, and then gradually sunny, for the rest of the day. The high is 54 degrees.
The fog will return around 4 a.m. Thursday.
Additionally, the Washington State Department of Transportation said the foggy conditions are making for a longer morning commute out of Vancouver.
