SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane faces another day of unhealthy air quality on Monday as wildfire smoke blankets the area. That smoke stretches from central Washington, into eastern Washington, and central Idaho.
As of Monday morning, Spokane had an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 180, which puts it in the unhealthy range. Even worse air conditions were seen near Lake Wenatchee and Chelan, along with central Idaho.
Spokane and most of the area are under an Air Quality Alert. The unhealthy air is expected to remain in Spokane through Tuesday.
The air quality should see some improvements on Wednesday morning when a storm system moves through. The area could get some showers ahead of the storm, which would bring some minor relief.
High pressure over the weekend kept winds light and resulted in poor ventilation, allowing smoke to build up across the Inland Northwest. As a result, we saw poor air quality in the "Unhealthy" category.
As the ridge pushes east, we will see a shift in our wind pattern to a more southwesterly flow. There will also be an increase in moisture from the south. This will bring us increased cloud cover.
While the southwesterly winds may move some of the Idaho and Montana smoke out, the smoke from Oregon's Cedar Creek Fire and other Washington wildfires may come blowing back in.
Because of this, little improvement is expected in our air quality in the short term. Temperatures will stay warm under this weather pattern, with highs in the low 80s on Monday and Tuesday.
Western Washington should see air improvements today with some rainfall in the Cascades.
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