I really think there is something going on between the smoke and fog.
California smoke returned to northern Oregon and Washington today (see satellite image at 1:31 PM). Fairly dense over western Oregon and clearly evident over southwest Washington.
The smoke was clearly evident at 12:50 PM from the Crystal Mountain cam looking towards Mount Rainier
And by 3:10 PM the mountain was almost obscured by smoke.
Some of the smoke is reaching the surface, particularly over the Willamette Valley, with declines of air quality also evident over Puget Sound. This is indicated by the areas of moderate air quality in the 2 PM observations shown below.
Seattle observations (10th and Weller) show the decline in air quality this afternoon (increase in particle concentrations).
The latest NOAA HRRRsmoke forecasts of particles in the atmosphere is shown below.
First, the forecast for 5 PM shows substantial concentrations over California and Oregon, with moderate amounts of smoke moving into southern and southeast Washington.
Fortunately, the existence of westerly winds over western Washington will promote clearing of the smoke from Seattle to Bellingham by 11 AM tomorrow (Thursday).
The increase in low-level smoke concentrations appears to contributing to the maintenance of the fog layer (see satellite image at 2:30 PM), a layer that was predicted to be far less extensive at this time by the best numerical models.
If the fog is still in place at 5 PM over the interior, we will know there is a serious issue, one that might be due to the effects of smoke. As described in a
previous blog, there are substantial reasons why smoke may contribute to fog retention.
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My blog on KNKX and the Undermining of American Freedom is found here.
An extraordinary story about Matt Martinez, Program Director of KNKX, is found here in which he talks about his views regarding the demographics of KNKX listeners and staff. All KNKX listeners should read it. ___________________________________________
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Great post Cliff. People need to know more about how invasive grasses are causing more easily ignitable fires that spread rapidly, and the fact these dead grasses become flammable within hours. YOu provide a great service. People need to worry much more about creating defensible spaces from grass fires than worrying climate change impacts on fires. Because the media keeps avoiding this critical factor I have been blogging on how much invasive grasses are increasing fires and the area burned. http://landscapesandcycles.net/why-worse-wildfires-part-1.html
ReplyDeleteThis post was meant to be a reply to post on grassland fires. Not sure what happend.
DeleteI read the Martinez article...wow...you are lucky to have left that arena!...sounds like some sort of wrong-headed 'house cleaning" will soon be taking place there!
ReplyDeleteIs the smoke and fog a big factor in keeping nighttime lows about 10 degrees above normal lately? Where can one find a list of record high overnight temps?
ReplyDeleteIt’s now almost 11am Thursday and air quality has improved dramatically! This smoke cast was spot on.
ReplyDelete