Wildfire smoke blowing over Portland

By Rod Hill on 2014-09-14


 

The Visible Satellite photo clearly shows the smoke plume from the fire east of Estacada, blowing over the Willamette valley. If you look closely, you can see brown colors in the haze. If not for the fire, Portland's sky would be perfectly blue today.

The Air Quality Map from DEQ, show in green, healthy air for much of the Portland metro. The yellow circle indicates moderate air quality this afternoon over Salem and the orange marker near Oregon City shows unhealthy air for sensitive groups as you head toward the foothills of Clackamas county. The poor air quality is likely being caused by the wildfire burning in the Cascades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East winds are much calmer today, but still blowing to 25 mph along I-84 in the gorge and gusty to 40 up at Crown Point. Fire danger continues to be considered critical. Hot temperatures and very dry air will keep Red Flag Warnings in place through early Tuesday morning. I expect cooler weather and calmer south winds this coming Tuesday afternoon. The forecast still shows promise of widespread rain showers on Thursday. Portland has not seen soaking rainfall since July 22nd & 23rd.

Meteorologist Rod Hill