Wildfire smoke expected in much of Oregon this weekend
Air quality in more than a dozen Oregon counties could be impacted through Sunday by smoke from the Lookout and Bedrock fires, as well as fires burning in California and Canada, state officials are warning.
The National Weather Service is predicting areas of haze in Salem beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by smoke between 4 p.m. and midnight.
On Friday, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for eastern Lane, southern Josephine, northern Lake, Jackson, Klamath, Deschutes and Crook counties through noon Sunday.
Smoke also could bring periods of poor air quality to the Portland metro area and Wallowa, Union, Baker, Grant, Umatilla, Wasco and Jefferson counties late Saturday afternoon into Sunday, DEQ officials said.
Harney and Malheur counties will experience intermittent smoke through Saturday afternoon, they said.
The Willamette Valley was under multiple heat, ozone and smoke advisories earlier this week, lasting through Thursday morning.
The latest warning comes as temperatures, which topped 100 degrees Saturday through Wednesday, have dropped. In Salem, forecasters expect a high of 83 degrees Friday, 90 degrees Saturday and 94 degrees Sunday.
Oregon ranks air quality as good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous.
Sensitive groups include children, people over 65, pregnant people and people with heart disease or respiratory conditions. Health officials recommend those groups limit outdoor activities when pollution levels are high.
Air quality was measuring as “good” in the Willamette Valley at midday Friday. Areas of central Oregon were measuring “unhealthy” or “very unhealthy” or, in Redmond, “hazardous.”
Current air quality conditions and advisories can be found on DEQ’s Air Quality Index at ordeq.org/oregonair or by downloading the free OregonAIR app on a smartphone.
Air quality information also is available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality map at airnow.gov, or from the Purple Air community air monitoring system at map.purpleair.com.
Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: tloew@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Wildfire smoke expected in much of Oregon this weekend
