Air Stagnation Advisory in effect for Western Washington to start the week

The Puget Sound region is going to be socked in with fog through most of this week, which may allow pollution to build up. That has triggered an Air Stagnation Advisory.

Forecast and current conditions for Western Washington

The Washington State Department of Ecology is asking everyone to avoid burning unless unnecessary for the next few days — and if you do start a fire, to burn clean.

The National Weather Service says because the air is so still, it would cause any kind of pollution, including smoke, to hang around.

“Let’s say people were burning campfires, or if there’s slash burning in the forest that would smoke, that would tend to build up, so we’re asking the people, don’t do those sorts of things,” Mike McFarland, a meteorologist with NWS, told KIRO Newsradio.

The Air Stagnation Advisory will be in effect through 12 p.m. Wednesday.

“If you have asthma, you might notice it a little bit if you went out for a jog. But most people won’t notice much of a problem, certainly not compared to the forest fire smoke that we get sometimes in the summer,” McFarland said.

The fog, however, is starting to burn off Tuesday after there had been a dense fog advisory for Western Washington in place until 12 p.m. Monday.

With dense fog also comes low visibility. The NWS reminded drivers to slow down, turn on your lights, and allow for extra time to get to your destination on Monday morning.

Morning early risers!
It will be another foggy day. Visibility is less than a quarter mile in spots in the lowlands.
Remember to give everyone space, give yourself more time, and make sure that you can be seen in the fog.
But hey, at least the passes are clear. #wawx pic.twitter.com/mx9VsqIrkC

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) January 24, 2022

As McFarland mentioned, KIRO 7 TV meteorologists also warned that the stagnant weather pattern could cause issues for people with respiratory problems due to worsening air quality and lowland fog.

Claire Anderson, KIRO 7 meteorologist, said the stagnant weather pattern is due to a pronounced ridge of high pressure. The jet stream path around the high is generally in the shape of the Greek letter “omega.” This omega block pattern could last to near the end of the week, Anderson says.

“This will give us calm weather lasted well into the week, though the lowlands will have plenty of low cloud and fog each day, barely dispersing to some sunshine in the mid-late afternoon hours,” Anderson said in the Monday morning forecast.

“Some lowland locations could stay in the soup all day long, while the mountains are in brilliant sunshine and some of our beaches as well, particularly along the south coast of Washington,” she added.

There is a chance for more sunbreaks into Thursday, with a slight chance of rain by Friday.

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