Wenatchee, NCW Air Quality Worsens Due To Smoke From Alaska Wildfires

The summer season isn't even a week old yet, and already the blue skies over North Central Washington (NCW) have been exchanged for a much hazier shade.

The sundrenched gloom is being caused by smoke that's drifting into the region on upper-level currents from wildfires that are burning in Alaska.

In some places, like the Wenatchee, Lake Chelan, and Methow Valleys, the ashen drifts from over 1,000 miles away in the Last Frontier are mixing with smoke being produced by the Pomas Fire, which is burning 36 miles northwest of Entiat in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area.

Air qualities were already declining due to smoke from the Pomas Fire in many locations east of that blaze since it was first reported on June 13. Now however, the blending of the Alaskan smoke is impacting air quality indexes over a much wider area, including the Wenatchee Valley - which had the worst air quality in the entire state Tuesday morning, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

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Despite the worsening atmosphere, air quality levels throughout NCW early Tuesday were lingering at the upper end of Moderate and only slightly bordering on Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups in many places east of the Cascades, including places like Brewster, Cashmere, Ellensburg, Moses Lake, Royal City, and Twisp.

Forecaster Krista King with the National Weather Service Office in Spokane tells KPQ News that residents in the region should be prepared to deal with the smoke for at least another week, since weather patterns are not expected to change until the first few days of July at the earliest.

King says the combination of upper-level winds and a current ridge of steady high pressure over the region could also result in even more smoke billowing in from the wildfires in Alaska, as well as the Pomas Fire, and even those currently burning in British Columbia.

Officials with both Ecology and the Chelan-Douglas Health District are urging those who are especially sensitive to wildfire smoke or have underlying health conditions to take every precaution necessary to safeguard their health until conditions improve.

They say the best thing anyone can do to protect themselves from poor air quality is to remain indoors, making certain that all doors and windows are well sealed and all fans and air conditioning systems are recycling air from inside their home and not introducing air from outside.