Community Corner
Giant Canadian Smoke Cloud Covers Puget Sound: NASA Photo
A NASA photo of smoke from Canadian wildfires shows how air quality is being reduced across Washington state.
BELLEVUE, WA — More than a dozen wildfires burning across British Columbia have produced enough smoke to cover much of Western Washington, delaying flights into Sea-Tac and creating a white haze hanging in the sky. A NASA satellite photo taken Wednesday shows just how far-reaching the smoke is.
Shifting wind patterns are sucking the smoke into our region, and meteorologists predict it will be here to stay for a few days. Some areas in Western Washington, in central Seattle in particular, have air quality rated as "unhealthy for sensitive groups." (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Patch, or click here to find your local Washington state Patch.)
Air quality is worse in Eastern Washington, with "unhealthy" ratings from Yakima to the Chelan area. You can check air quality on the state Department of Ecology website.
Find out what's happening in Bellevuefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The National Weather Service also released a GIF of the smoke moving into Puget Sound:
Here's a 3 day loop (Mon-Wed) of NASA Terra satellite images showing the dramatic spread of wildfire smoke into Western Washington. #wawx pic.twitter.com/8YeITEH69U
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) August 3, 2017
Image via NASA
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