The air quality in Washington state has been compared to some of the most polluted places on the planet. But that’s only because of all the wildfire smoke locally, and because this is the time of year when places such as China and New Delhi experience their best air quality.
The Washington Smoke blog states that “stacking the relatively ‘clean’ season in Beijing/Delhi against our ‘dirtiest’ season is not a proper comparison.”
The blog is a partnership between state, county, and federal agencies, and state tribes.
Data show it wasn’t until recently that Seattle’s air quality become unhealthy enough to be comparable to Beijing or New Delhi. At its worse, Seattle’s air quality has reached into the “normal” range of the air quality at U.S. embassies in China and New Delhi during this time of year. Normal is defined as the range between monthly lower and upper quartiles.
Places east of the Cascades are a different story. The air quality in Spokane and Omak spiked well above the normal air quality in Beijing and New Delhi for this time of year. Omak reached hazardous air quality for a brief time earlier this month – comparable to New Delhi in the winter. Ditto for Spokane. But both Spokane and Omak are seeing improved air quality as of late.
For the majority of the year, Washington state's air quality is far below the norm for Beijing and New Delhi, typically not becoming any worse than "moderate."
Of course, it makes sense that Spokane and Omak would have worse air quality than cities west of the Cascades. Several large wildfires continue to burn in the mountains, with even more in Canada, and Eastern Washington.
Much of the smoke seen around Puget Sound is blowing in from British Columbia.
The smoke in the Puget Sound lowlands is expected to begin clearing by Wednesday night. An Air Quality Alert issued by the National Weather Service will expire at noon Thursday – unless it’s extended again.
By Thursday afternoon or Friday, we should begin seeing moderate to good air quality again. That should last for at least the first half of next week.
