Spokane’s air quality expected to stay unhealthy through much of the weekend

Smoke went from bad to worse in Spokane, with air quality making its way into the “very unhealthy” range by Friday morning and staying there throughout the day.

Air quality that poor means everyone could experience more serious health effects when spending time outdoors, according to the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency.

Smoke wasn’t good to begin with early Friday, with air quality levels hovering around “unhealthy” levels. The air quality was bad enough that City of Spokane pools weren’t able to open at all on Friday, according to Spokane Parks and Recreation.

Riverfront Spokane posted on Twitter, however, that the Primus rock concert at Riverfront Park would go on despite the smoke.

Conditions aren’t expected to change much for a couple of days, and relief isn’t available by driving for a couple of hours.

Air quality monitors from the Cascades to western Montana mostly were measuring “unhealthy” air Friday morning.

“I would not expect significant improvements through the day given the lack of wind we have,” said Greg Koch, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Spokane.

Koch said the smoke isn’t from just one wildfire, but is a soup from wildfires burning in Okanogan County, Canada, Oregon and California.

Thursday was the fourth day this year that the average air quality for the day in Spokane reached the unhealthy category, according to Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency data.

A cold front heading in over the weekend likely will help, particularly starting on Sunday, Koch said.

But Koch added that with all of the wildfires burning around the Inland Northwest, it’s going to be tough to be rid of smoke unless significant precipitation rolls in.

Temperatures are expected to reach 100 on Saturday and the mid-90s on Sunday. But high temperatures are expected to return to the 80s Monday, at least through Thursday.

With a high of 93 degrees Friday, Spokane tied its record for most days of at least 90 degrees in a year, making for the 39th in 2021. The record of 39 was first set in 1958.