U.S. Air Quality

Very unhealthy PM2.5 levels in Northwest; Smoke moving southward to the plains

Very unhealthy Air Quality was reached today in Idaho and Oregon where a very thick and large plume was emitted due to the fires in these regions (top left). PM2.5 concentrations were extremely high in Idaho reaching purple levels as reported by AirNow Tech (top right). According to the situation in Northwest, HMS reported an impressive swath of moderate-to-thick density smoke visible stretching across Vancouver Island, Washington, eastern Oregon, and Idaho this morning. The thickest area of smoke expanded mainly southward from east-central Washington. Remnant light smoke from the ongoing wildfires in the Pacific Northwest region expanded across the central and southern plains and into the western portions of the Tennessee Valley ahead of the surface cold front (middle left). Meanwhile, MODIS aerosol optical depth product also detected high AOD values over the Northwest region due to the fires reported (middle right). MODIS true color image also shows the very thick smoke plume over Oregon and Idaho (bottom).