Sharing this again in case you missed this yesterday. Make sure to check this blog and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Air Quality Index for air conditions and smoke forecasts near you. Air quality conditions can change rapidly.
Air Quality Forecast for Saturday
Air Quality Forecast for Saturday
Air quality should greatly improve for much of the state, and we should contend only with smoke from fires within the state, and Northern California.
By Saturday morning the ridge of high pressure begins to break down, as shown in the figure below, bringing more westerly flow into the region, and helping clear smoke from the Willamette Valley.
The smoke from the Canadian fires will clear out of much of the state by tomorrow, and ozone levels will remain lower than they have been in the past few days.
The figure below shows the daily average smoke expected for Saturday. Areas west of the fires in the Cascades are expected to be most impacted. Some light smoke is expected throughout much of Eastern Oregon with a few grass fires continuing. However, smoke can be much worse during a given hour, and the areas around Detroit, Breitenbush, Mt. Jefferson, the Meteolius Basin, Lake Billy Chinook, Madras, the Warm Springs Reservation and Crater Lake National Park are expected to be the most impacted.
Air Quality Forecast for Sunday
Smoke will continue to diminish air quality south of the fires Sunday, as shown below. This southerly flow may bring smoke back down into the state from the fires to the north on Sunday, but probably not to the extent we’ve seen this past week. Additionally, a weak low-pressure system off the Southern Oregon Coast is likely to bring a chance of dry lightning into southwestern parts of the state increasing in the number of fire starts.
