Smoky air to linger in Snohomish County, with no end in sight

INDEX — Air quality remained unhealthy Monday across much of the central Puget Sound as a smoky haze blanketed the lowlands.

The Bolt Creek wildfire and others continued to burn thousands of acres this week in the Cascade Range.

A bit of relief was expected to arrive Monday, as a weather front is expected to move through the Puget Sound. The weather was forecast to bring cleaner air with it, along with light rainfall across the Cascades.

Hang in there Puget Sounders. Wind will provide some relief from wildfire smoke today, although it may not last. Read more about the smoke that just won’t go away: https://t.co/37frIV1TtR pic.twitter.com/fTbPVhDJLV

— WA Department of Ecology (@EcologyWA) October 10, 2022

But forecasters say the pattern of abnormally dry October weather was not expected to change for at least another week.

“It’s possible the smoke will set back in and degrade the air quality through the rest of the week,” said Carly Kovacik, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Seattle. “How the air quality will be affected is a little bit unclear right now.”

Summer temperatures were expected to stick around through the end of the week, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. No significant rainfall was forecast in the week ahead.

Kovacik said the hot, dry weather this fall has been “unusual.”

“We definitely don’t see things like this, this time of year,” the forecaster said.

The latest official estimate pinned the Bolt Creek wildfire at 13,396 acres, just north of Skykomish. Officials confirmed this month the fire was sparked by humans.

In north Everett, visibility was poor Monday morning, as the Cascade Range and the Snohomish River valley were shrouded by smoke. Due to smoke billowing down U.S. 2, the city had some of the worst air in Western Washington.

Late last week, the state Department of Natural Resources sent out a notice that, in spite of weeks of wildfire haze, this year has seen the least amount of Washington forestland burned in a decade, at roughly 140,000 acres.

“Bolt Creek has reminded us that wildfire doesn’t see boundaries,” Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said in a press release. “As climate change and other factors have worsened the length and impact of fire seasons, turning them instead into fire years, wildfire is no longer an eastside issue — it’s a statewide one.”

People in areas with unhealthy air quality are advised to minimize spending time outside as much as possible.

Sensitive groups in particular, such as children, pregnant women, and people with heart or breathing issues, should limit time outdoors.

The Washington Smoke Blog provides a map with live updates of air quality throughout the region.

Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; ellen.dennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.