Light winds brought wildfire smoke back to Clark County on Monday afternoon, degrading air quality in the area.
After a weekend with mostly good air quality, fine particulate pollution (PM 2.5) levels fell as low as 11 Monday morning, but climbed to 115 Monday afternoon, which is in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range.
PM 2.5 levels in Yacolt were 60 at 1 p.m., still in the “moderate” range.
Winds were expected to blow most of the smoke out of the Portland metro area by Monday evening, according to David Elson, a meteorologist with National Weather Service Portland.
“I don’t anticipate that it will stick around much. I don’t think it’s likely to see the air quality return to what it was the last couple weeks,” Elson said.
A tweet from the National Weather Service Portland said air quality would return to normal within one to two days. The smoke is coming from the Beachie Creek Fire, east of Salem, Ore.
While rain helped contain some of the fire last week, the fire is only about 40 percent contained. Elson said the Beachie Creek Fire is not producing nearly as much smoke as it once was.
If the air quality continues to stay in the unhealthy for sensitive group range, people who are sensitive to particulate pollution might want to consider reducing activity levels or shortening the amount of time they are active outdoors.
Elson said the rain that is expected midweek should help further dampen the fires. The rain is expected to provide a good blanketing for most of the Pacific Northwest he said, not just a sprinkle.
“Everybody should get a good rain out of this,” Elson said.
Moderate levels of PM 2.5 are forecast through today and Tuesday, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, airnow.gov.
