Forecasts: Wildfire smoke will likely worsen SnoCo air quality this week

Published 1:30 pm Monday, August 3, 2026

EVERETT — Air quality in the Snohomish County area will likely worsen over the next couple of days as smoke from nearby wildfires is expected to blow into the western Puget Sound region this week.

Residents near the Sound woke up to hazy skies on Monday, but that smoke was largely hanging higher in the air, without significantly affecting air quality. Forecasters say that on Monday evening or Tuesday morning, more smoke will likely blow in near the surface, causing air quality in the region to decline.

“It’s pretty hard to know exactly, where, exactly when and exactly how much,” said Phil Swartzendruber, a forecaster with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, in an interview Monday. “But it’s likely we’re going to see some smoke reaching the ground.”

The smoke is expected to blow in to the Snohomish County area from the north and the east, where wildfires are currently burning in Spokane and British Columbia. The fires in Spokane County had destroyed more than 700 structures and forced 60,000 people to evacuate as of Sunday, the Spokesman-Review reported, in what the city of Spokane’s mayor, Lisa Brown, called “the worst natural disaster the region has faced.”

Jacob DeFlitch, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said the changing winds will bring smoke into the area through much of the middle of the week.

“We are concerned that as we go through tonight, even into tomorrow, we start to see some of that smoke start to reach the surface,” DeFlitch said Monday afternoon.

By Thursday, winds are expected to begin blowing in from the west, bringing cleaner air from over the Pacific Ocean. The weather service is continuing to monitor expected wind patterns, but DeFlitch said smoky conditions may begin to clear up by Friday.

With hot weather forecasted in the middle of the week and humidity levels over Cascade mountains remaining low, DeFlitch said there will also be elevated fire weather conditions through Thursday, possibly into Friday.

The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for the Snohomish County area on Monday, which is set to continue through 5 p.m. Wednesday. It states that the air quality index, a measure of pollution levels in the air, is expected to reach a level unhealthy for sensitive groups — including people with heart or lung diseases, older adults, children or teenagers — through Tuesday and Wednesday.

In a joint press release Monday, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Snohomish County Health Department wrote that air quality could reach unhealthy levels this week and remain through Thursday.

Swartzendruber said it is a good idea to be prepared for the smoky weather, especially if people are sensitive to poor air quality. He said people should consider finding a cooling center that will allow the body to take a break from the heat and the air quality. Those with air conditioning could consider adding filters to prevent indoor air quality from degrading.

People sensitive to smoke should limit their outdoor activities while air quality is worsened, the press release read. Masks with an N95 or N100 label can also reduce exposure to smoke pollution.

To monitor air quality as conditions change, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency maintains a map showing air quality levels throughout the region: map.pscleanair.gov.

The Snohomish County Public Safety Hub also maintains a list of cooling centers open throughout the county: tinyurl.com/3cyae6vd.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.