SPOKANE, Wash. — While the smoke and heat in the area don’t seem like a pleasant combination, experts say the heat does not intensify the smoke.
Lisa Woodard, spokesperson for the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, said there isn’t a direct correlation between hot temperatures and smoke.
“You can have smoky days in the winter,” she said.
The reason more smoky days occur in the summer is primarily because of the wildfires.
Jon Fox, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane, said heat doesn’t necessarily cause more smoke, but the two can be related.
Hotter temperatures make for drier materials, including shrubs, trees and other fuels that encourage a wildfire.
“On a hot day, especially when there has been no rain, those materials are probably going to be very dry,” Fox said.
This means the flames have more fuel and will burn faster.
Cooler temperatures, on the other hand, mean fire fuels aren’t going to be as dry as ones on a hotter day.