Air quality unhealthy for everyone amid smoky haze

Wednesday, Aug. 15 2018 will go down as the worst day for air quality since records have been kept, so far. It was the poorest air quality this century, and ranked unhealthy for everyone.

“We had levels that were unhealthy and pretty rare within the Seattle city limits … saying it’s a century is a bit of an exaggeration; the 21st century is what they are saying, so over the last couple decades it was the highest recorded in Seattle,” said Eric Saganic, an air quality forecaster with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.

“Back in the 1980s, we had levels this high fairly frequently,” he added, noting that places like Bejing or Deli experience similar poor air quality from time-to-time.

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Cleaner air moved into the region from the Pacific Ocean Thursday morning, providing relief from the haze. The National Weather Service said that inland areas will notice improvements Thursday through Friday. But people exposed to the smoky air should be mindful of aftereffects.

“We still expect to see moderate levels (of air quality) because there is so much smoke,” Saganic said. “And moderate for the most sensitive, you will still feel potentially some symptoms.”

“Actually, after you are exposed to high levels of air pollution, often you’ll experience the outcomes, and your symptoms a day or two later,” he said. “… You may still be feeling symptoms today and even tomorrow.”

Most people will suffer from a scratchy throat or itchy eyes after experiencing the heavy smoke in the air. For some, there are a range of health complications.

“It might have actually increased your blood pressure, things like that on a subtle level,” Saganic said. “In some individuals who don’t know they have a heart condition, these air pollution levels can trigger a heart attack or a stroke.”

A Berkley Earth analysis of air pollution levels estimates that simply breathing in the Puget Sound air over the last week is equivalent to smoking about six cigarettes per day.

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Air quality may diminish again on Sunday when the onshore flow will be cut off, according to KIRO 7’s Nick Allard. It’s not clear yet how the change will affect how smoky it will get, but Allard says with smoke in three directions and no rain in the forecast, it’s safe to say we will see more at some point.

Smoky Northwest summers

Smoky conditions have become so prevalent during wildfire season in the Northwest, there is even a blog dedicated to it.

While August 2017 was also smoky, unhealthy air quality isn’t a common summer occurrence. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency told KIRO Radio last summer that poor summer air conditions were similar to poor winter conditions. In winter, however, people stay indoors more often where the air is generally cleaner. That’s what experts recommend people should do in the summer now — stay indoors with filtered air.

Check the forecast

“This is unusual for this summer for us,” said Craig Kenworthy, director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. “We do see unhealthy levels in the winter in some locations when we have a stagnation event and there is a lot of wood burning going on. We are over the trigger for calling a burn ban in the winter. We are definitely in unusual territory.”

Kenworthy says people should be prepared for smoky conditions for a couple months.

“As long as we are seeing the scale of fires in California and to some degree Oregon,” Kenworthy said. “… the way California is looking this year, we are probably going to have risks into late September, October potentially.”

In such incidents of poor air quality, the National Weather Service says children, the elderly, and individuals with respiratory illnesses are often the most at risk of health complications and should limit or completely avoid spending time outside. Staying indoors with air filtration is recommended.

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