Smoky conditions should ease by week's end

The wildfire smoke that has covered the region in haze should start to dissipate toward the end of the week. If the weather gods cooperate, that is.

Eastern Washington has been hit with a bit of meteorological bad luck. Currently the region is under the influence of prevailing north winds, said Joey Clevenger of the National Weather Service office in Spokane, and “we’re just downwind of the fires.”

Crews are still working the fire lines on the Cougar Creek fire near Entiat, the McLeod and Crescent Mountain fires in the Methow River Valley and the Boyds fire near Kettle Falls. British Columbia is coping with a number of fires. Mix all of that smoke with a north wind, and it’s smoky in places far from the fire lines - smoky even to unhealthy levels.

The direction of the prevailing winds is expected to shift by Wednesday night into Thursday, Clevenger said. “Knock on wood.”

A low pressure system is heading toward the region and is forecast to arrive by Wednesday night or sometime Thursday. When it arrives - and it might be slow getting here - winds will shift to the west, which will clear out the smoke; high temperatures will top out between 80 and 85 degrees.

In the meantime air quality has been and will remain poor, getting into unhealthy levels of pollutants. The Washington Department of Health recommends staying indoors when the air gets bad, and limiting physical activity if people must go outdoors. People should close the windows and doors to keep the indoor air clean, and if it’s hot, adjust the air conditioner to recirculate.

“Breathing smoky air can cause a wide range of symptoms, from watery eyes to coughing to chest pain to asthma attacks,” according to a DOH press release. “People with heart or lung diseases such as asthma are more likely to experience serious and life-threatening symptoms.”

And smoky air can be a problem for people suffering from diabetes or survivors of stroke, the DOH press release said.