The air quality over portions of Puget Sound country declined rapidly to some of the worst in the world last night.
And you can't blame wildfires. It was from fireworks.
The front page of the Puget Sound Air Quality Agency showed this plot for King County and other Puget Sound counties were similar.
This morning at 6:30 AM some portions of the south Sound had air quality in the hazardous range (purple color) and much of the region was unhealthy. A sharp contrast to the good air quality the day before. And this was AFTER some improvement overnight.
To give some perspective, here is the EPA air quality map this morning, after Puget Sound air had improved a bit. Fireworks over Puget Sound and near LA brought the worst air in the nation.
Last night I was watching the Seattle fireworks and one could see a huge plume of smoke developing. But this smoke was eclipsed by the homegrown displays.
This morning a pale of some covered the region, with much of it from personal fireworks (see Seattle Harbor and Lake Union this AM). Yuk.
This was the HIGHEST hourly particulate level ever observed at this site. To illustrate, I have plotted the last five years ago.
First, judging from the booms I heard last night, lots of people acquired and were shooting off fireworks. But just as important, the meteorology was favorable.
A cruel mirage by mother nature.
Thanks for this post. It is useful to see what kind of an impact this bizarre form of recreation can have on our region. At least no significant fires were ignited. Or is it too soon to say?
ReplyDeleteThere is a significant fire 20+ miles NNW in Mason County that trashed my AQI
DeleteYes!...in S. Everett, every neighborhood was going bonkers with fireworks!..I have had two heart procedures this year--good results--but noticed in the later evening that I was wheezing and hacking quite a bit!...so, i stayed indoors, and plan to do the same today. I checked AIRNOW, and last night, it registered over 200...considered to be "very unhealthy"...Yup! And even late this am, the count is in the moderately nasty zone. The moon last night, looked beautiful, but was glowing a muted yellowish-orange color!
ReplyDeleteFire in the Shelton area. All that I have seen reported publicly was that it was sparked Tuesday afternoon and spread quickly. No cause has been mentioned. Probably focusing on getting it contained rather than placing blame.
ReplyDeleteThe fire didn't cause the spike in AQI. The wind patterns do not suggest the minor plumes from the fires near Shelton to affect the Pierce County area. It was fireworks. They now have some of the better air quality in the region after the smoke dissipated.
DeleteWhile I think fireworks are a plague and definitely contribute to AQ issues, there IS a fire in Mason County, directly west of that station in Tacoma, and that certainly is having an impact on AQ in the region as well.
ReplyDeleteThere is no evidence that the fire in Mason County is to blame. The air quality in the south Sound closely followed the fireworks use, the winds were not right, and the AQ measurement don't show any plume of bad air heading towards the south Sound from Mason county. Furthermore, radar picked up the plume showed it heading to the SW.
DeleteThanks for reporting on this issue Cliff! I checked Purple air last night around midnight and was horrified by the AQ over the Seattle area. I recently moved from King to Kittitas county and was pleasantly surprised (shocked) by the lack of firework activity in the county last night compared to King county, strange given the apparent ban on fireworks.
ReplyDeleteLast year in N.Bend there was a constant cacophony of fireworks launched from 9pm until 2pm, it was actually quite disturbing. Apparently we're the only mammal who proverbially soils their own living space, ironically the only one with a fully developed prefrontal cortex :(
I really hope that these folks setting off fireworks aren't the same ones rattling on about taxing carbon, melting glaciers and virtue signaling in their Tesla's.
I grew up in California where you couldn't even use sparklers. My parents told me about lighting fireworks in California when they were kids and I didn't realize what I was missing until I moved to Washington in 2014. I've come to realize fireworks can be a wonderful tradition that brings the whole family together and now I feel the need to make up for all those years I couldn't light fireworks. I don't think completely banning fireworks is right, I'm not suprised so many people are rebelling against then ban and I think the ban is having the opposite effect that was intended. 700 air quality is pretty bad and I think a compromise is needed. People need to be allowed to light fireworks but maybe not quite so many and maybe the fireworks should be alittle less powerful. Those people that can't stand fireworks need to be willing to be able to put up with some noise and pollution for 1 night a year. Its just one night if you really can't stand it camp in the mountains for a night. Continuing this stupid ban will only make the problem worse there are already way more people lighting fire works than the police will keep up with and I suspect the longer the ban is in the place the more people will rebel against it.
DeleteFireworks are like anything else that requires safe, responsible use. Bans on private fireworks were not put in place out of a desire to be mean or put the boot heel on freedom. Bans were due to injuries and fires from irresponsible use. Everyone wants 100% freedom and 0% accountability, but after a while enough is enough. If the injuries and fires are something we are supposed to desensitize ourselves from in order to retain the freedom of fireworks, similar to accepting a certain amount of traffic fatalities for the freedom to drive or deaths from firearms to ensure 2nd Amendment freedoms....hey everyone gets it. Still, it is a bit callous. Emergency room visits, fire fighting and property damage also have real world damages in dollars as well as human suffering. A fire works ban in what is usually tinder dry California is not unreasonable. Probably best described as a no brainer.
DeleteWell let me tell you, the fireworks blasting off at all hours of the evening and the night are not confined simply to "just one night". The folks doing this sh*t utilizing mortars and whatever else are simply taking advantage of the fact that we have minimal to no law enforcement of any kind in most places nowadays. An increasingly dense population with a concomitantly more complex society simply demands more regulation to keep ourselves from killing each other. Air quality like that cited above, noise pollution (which is no small matter for many people's mental health), not to the mention the cost of injuries, property damage and the environmental impact on other life forms (gasp, you mean we are not alone!?) make this a no-brainer for a ban in my book.
DeleteHave to remember that some legislation results in police refusing to enforce/and or prosecutors bothering to prosecute. Even then, all fireworks infractions are misdemeanors. So, you can burn down your neighborhood with errant fireworks use, kill some of your neighbors and it's a misdemeanor. Granted, you can be sued in civil court but a bankruptcy declaration usually takes care of that. So, everyone is sort of on their honor. Individual freedom is way waaay ahead in line of public safety.
DeleteThe morning after on Lake Washington...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.flickr.com/photos/bwellsea/53025405383
Though the air quality issues are transient, the public safety burden caused by fireworks is sizable. Our local fire district responded to dozens of vegetation and brush fires over the weekend and on the 4th, and was particularly strained yesterday as they sent personnel and apparatus to help in Mason County.
ReplyDeleteIt's time for the state to step up and ban fireworks sales and discharge, and leave it to the professionals.
There is also the impact of lost limbs, hearing and eyes; and the strain on law enforcement, fire and first responder resources.
DeleteI think a state ban on personal fireworks might be helpful in setting a message. But it won't be sufficient because: tribes that sell fireworks won't stop; enforcement of a ban is inherently difficult; and fireworks will still be available over the border in neighboring states.
A big problem for Oregon is all of the fireworks easily bought across the river in Washington. We've had much stricter rules here for a long time. But since law enforcement was defunded, you wouldn't necessarily know it.
DeleteThey are already banned in most areas, yet they still go off every year! People are even stocking up old fireworks from earlier years and setting them off.
DeleteLast year, Redmond replaced the fireworks show at its annual "Derby Days" celebration with a drone show. It was fantastic. It was new and novel. And with no pollution or debris. And reportedly, neighborhood dogs liked it to given the absence of explosions. I might encourage more municipalities to replace their fireworks shows with drone shows. Though, of course, much fireworks-related air pollution comes from "backyard fireworks".
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with drone shows and sanctioned displays is that they are passive, and there's no opportunity for creativity on the part of the observer. It is like this: Would you rather go skiing, or would you rather just watch a movie about skiing? That's the difference.
DeleteGood lord there's a lot of humbug in these comments. I know we're all a thousand years old here, but I remember being a child and using fireworks safely under close supervision. It was magical.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any love lost for the hooligans who set them off after midnight or who blow their fingers off and start fires through recklessness, but this is an American tradition, folks. You might as well shake your fist at the Moon.
Tradition is fine. Everyone understands that. The issue is this area is growing. More and more people wanting to participate, and many of them have barely any clue on how to do anything safely, let alone something that is a bit more risky such as fireworks. The tradition starts to bump up against statistics and the numbers associated with the damages incurred when people act the fool with a dangerous device. So, convince people to actually give a hoot and be thoughtful, responsible citizens and then our traditions can endure. Otherwise, blame the morons when the gubmint has to step in and end it.
DeleteAs a kid who got their hands on illegal fireworks such as M80's and the like, I understand your points. However, I grew up in semi - rural areas with neighbors widely spread out, and I shot them off in abandoned farm fields, never shot them off after 10 PM, and I wasn't living in drought - stricken areas prone to wildfires, such as the PNW during the summer. Big difference IMHO.
DeleteCliff...what is your opinion on the latest news about today being the "warmest day on record"? The claims are certainly true, but what are the implications of this? Does the current trends suggest climate disaster or is it mostly natural and temperatures will turn around as some data suggest?
ReplyDeleteBobby
As the incoming marine push becomes more entrenched in the Bellingham area the temperature has decreased substantially and the air quality has increased accordingly. As of 9:35PM, the temperature was 63.9 (almost 6 degrees cooler than at the same time yesterday) and the AQI was 10 (more than 25 lower than yesterday at the same time).
ReplyDeleteAs long as fireworks are easy to aquire, nothing will change. Got to stop the supply, because your not going to stop all the people who think they have to continue the tradition.
ReplyDelete