What about Portland?
Portland is seeing some wildfire smoke this afternoon, with
numerous air quality monitors in the city showing moderate conditions on DEQ’s Air Quality Index. The
smoke is present because the east wind increased fairly recently today and is now
bringing smoke from the numerous wildfires to the east in both Washington and
Oregon. The smoke may initially increase
throughout this afternoon and early evening, but overnight the smoky conditions
should improve as the east winds are expected to decrease tonight. Some lingering smoke will likely settle
overnight, but conditions should further improve tomorrow as the winds are expected
to shift from east to west, pushing the smoke out of the Portland metro area.
So, why wasn’t Portland included in the air pollution
advisory DEQ issued earlier in the day Thursday? DEQ typically issues air
pollution advisories when conditions are deemed “unhealthy for sensitive
groups.” Similar advisories occur when conditions are “unhealthy”, “very
unhealthy” or “hazardous.” These are the conditions represented as orange, red
or purple dots on the air quality index map. When this happens, air quality is
generally poor and likely to impact the general population, and especially
people with pre-existing respiratory problems, including asthma.
But that does not mean that some people will not feel
adverse impacts from smoke at more moderate levels. Some people are more
sensitive to smoke than others. Geography also plays a role, as some people
live and work in areas where smoke is more likely to accumulate.
It’s also important to remember that while the state’s air
quality monitoring network gives a good snapshot of statewide conditions, many
people live many miles away from the nearest monitor. Air quality can vary
greatly from one area to the next, especially in communities that are in close
proximity to wildfires.
So what does this all mean? It means that while the AQI is
an important tool, an even better gauge of the quality of air you are breathing
is to look outside and see what is happening with smoke. If visibility is less
than about five miles, that is considered unhealthy for sensitive populations.
If you can see less than one mile, that is considered very unhealthy. The good news
for Portlanders? As noted above, meteorologists predict westerly winds as early
as tomorrow, which should help push out some of the smoke.