Hazardous air over Spokane may linger through Tuesday

The air over Spokane is thick with toxic wildfire smoke, and it looks like it will stay around at least a couple more days.

With smoke drifting from major fires in Medical Lake, Elk and Canada, the air quality index in Spokane reached well past the “hazardous” threshold for much of Saturday, which can negatively impact the health of the general population. Some people also are likely to be more sensitive, including those who are pregnant, those over the age of 65, children and young teens, as well as smokers, said Kelli Hawkins, Spokane Regional Health District spokesperson.

The air quality at 9 p.m. was listed at 433 in the 500-point scale. Air quality above 300 is considered hazardous. Since monitoring began in 1999 for particulate matter 2.5 microns or less, the Spokane Clean Air Agency has only measured hazardous levels of air quality four times when averaged over the course of a day. Those days were Sept. 12-15, 2020.

“It’s not so serious that you can’t do the things you need to do, like go to the grocery store or go to work,” Hawkins said. “But if you’re outside for any prolonged amount of time, the more it can cause initial effects such as difficulty breathing, coughing and can exacerbate existing health conditions.”

Even those staying indoors should take some precautions, Hawkins added, such as by building a box fan air filter or purchasing a high-efficiency particulate air filter, and making sure that air condition units are recirculating air, not dragging in smoke from outside. Hawkins also recommended against vacuuming, cooking, burning candles or any other activity that could increase the particulates in a home’s air.

“Maybe tonight’s the night you have a salad instead of turning your stove on,” she said.

Taking these steps is particularly important, Hawkins noted, because the smoke is likely to linger.

The winds bringing smoke to Spokane from Elk and Canada to the north are unlikely to change significantly Saturday night through Sunday morning, said Jeremy Wolf, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Spokane office. A shift in the wind Sunday afternoon may help disperse the smoke, but confidence is low that it will bring significant improvements, Wolf added.

The Department of Ecology has issued an air quality alert through at least Monday morning. Remnants of Hurricane Hilary may bring some rain and a southerly wind to Spokane on Monday, but another weather system approaching from the west Monday and into Monday night could bring smoke back into the city, Wolf said.

There’s “hints” of stronger wind from the southwest Tuesday, which could considerably improve air quality, Wolf said.

“But until then, we’re continuing to monitor conditions closely,” he added.