Huge Plume of BC Wildfire Smoke Reaches the Northwest

Well, if the miasma of smoke from fireworks wasn't enough, we are now being hit by a huge plume of smoke from large wildfires in British Columbia.

Here is the latest visible satellite image.  You see that light grey stuff that moves southward from the BC Coast and swings into NW Washington?  That is wildfire smoke.  Yuck.  And a very dense area of smoke over Vancouver Island.   You rarely see such profoundly dense smoke.

Much of BC is now very smoky and the regional media have done a number of stories:

Here is the latest MODIS satellite image--you can really see the smoke.  The area over Vancouver Island is VERY thick.  Wow.  I have never seen anything like it in our area. There are also low water clouds along the coast.

Here is a close up view:

The MODIS satellite can tell where is is seeing aerosols (non-cloud particles).   It concurs on the smoky origin of the light gray stuff.

You want to see something amazing.  Here is a picture from Scott Sistek's (KOMO TV!) father's home in Port Angeles today.  The world has turned yellow.  Surreal.

Here some other cams-- several have a sepia-like tonality
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Sooke Harbor, BC

Lake Crescent, Olympic Peninsula

Let's look at the latest pollution numbers (small particles) from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency website (Time in PDT).  There were minimal amounts of  particles until later on July 4th.   Then it goes crazy.  HUGE spikes at Tacoma and Marysville, with substantial rises in Seattle, Bremerton, and Lake Forest Park.   I was on a hill  at Magnuson Park in Seattle last night....the air smelled of sulphur.  Interestingly, some locations show a secondary peak this AM....could that be some of smoke from the BC and local wildfires?

The latest Puget Sound Clean Air Agency air quality map shows a number of locations with unhealthy air (reddish dots in the figure).   Green is good.  Yellow is marginal

The view from the Space Needle cam this morning around 6 AM shows the smoke clearly.   Smoke produces vivid, colorful sunrises and sunsets, something that is obvious in this shot.

Finally,  here is a dramatic video from SkunkBayWeather on the northern part of the Kitsap Peninsula, with the camera looking north.  The smoke is so thick it looks like clouds.



Smokey Sunrise - 7/5/2015 from SkunkBayWeather on Vimeo.

So, the Northwest smoke season has begun.   Heat, smoke, arid conditions, and fires.  Folks from California will feel right at home here.