The Pacific Northwest is ablaze, with dozens of fires burning across Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Smoke from this “extraordinary” outbreak is billowing across the U.S. and could reach as far as Florida today, forecasters warn. Early this morning, 51 large, uncontained wildfires were burning in Oregon and Washington, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The outbreak began in mid-July when thunderstorms brought thousands of lightning strikes to the Pacific Northwest’s parched landscape. More than 1.5 million acres are now actively burning across the region. The NIFC is operating at the highest level of national response and sent nearly 400 additional federal firefighters into Oregon and Washington today. They may be able to gain some control today as fire weather conditions should ease slightly, according to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. However, a massive plume of smoke is already sweeping across the nation.
Wildfire smoke returns to the East This bout of wildfire smoke comes just two weeks after smoke from Canada poured into the eastern U.S. and triggered widespread air quality alerts. According to meteorologist Ben Noll, it will be a little different this time. Most of the smoke should remain high in the atmosphere, meaning it won’t have a significant impact on air quality, but it will produce hazy skies, Noll reports for the Washington Post. However, the near-surface smoke degrading air quality across eastern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana should spread into the central U.S. today and settle near the ground in parts of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, he said.
