12:32 PM: Thanks to the texter who sent the photo of the hazy downtown skyline, seen from northeast-facing West Seattle. Yes, to pile on with the extra heat, wildfire smoke is arriving too. We’ve even had a few reports of ashfall. Click on “instant” at the upper right of this Puget Sound Clean Air Agency map and you’ll see pollution levels are on the rise. Per @westseawx, this is going to worsen tonight/tomorrow. You can explore the Washington Smoke Information site to see where fires are burning in our state; look more broadly at the West here; to our north, B.C. fire info is here.
1:55 PM: Now there’s an official alert, just out of the inbox:
This is a wildfire smoke alert from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the local public health agencies of King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. Air pollution is increasing due to wildfire smoke and may cause health problems.
Winds are bringing wildfire smoke into the Puget Sound region. We expect air quality to worsen today (Thursday) and reach levels UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS in many areas in the Puget Sound region. We expect smoke to continue or worsen on Friday. Some areas may have higher concentrations for short periods of time if additional smoke plumes move into the area. Smoke should begin to clear on Saturday.
Wildfire smoke can cause and worsen many health problems. …
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