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Why Spokane attracts smoke from wildfires miles away

Spokane residents woke up this morning to the worst air quality in the nation, but the closest fire was over 100 miles away.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The quality of air has progressively gotten better throughout the day, but what is it about Spokane that attracts smoke from fires that are hours away?

The Williams Flats Fire on Colville Reservation has been burning since Friday morning, and it's now spread across 16,000 acres. A separate fire in Canada started up on Monday and winds have pushed smoke from both locations east into Spokane.

According to KREM meteorologist Thomas Patrick, the geographical makeup of Spokane plays a role in the air quality.

“Because we have a stable atmosphere, that air and that smoke can't disperse. So instead it stays trapped right near the surface of the earth right where we are going to breathe and that’s why our air can get reduced when we see wildfires nearby,” he said. 

Flames from the fire are usually too hot at the initial spot, causing smoke to shoot straight up into the air. The smoke then has so much buoyancy it’s not able to come back down. By the time the air cools down, it's been pushed so far away that it ends up in a place like Spokane.

The smoke continues lingering until strong enough winds come into the city and force it elsewhere.

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