Sharp drop in temperatures tonight. Expect some hazy Tri-Cities skies

Hazy skies are forecast through Wednesday morning as smoke from wildfires continues to drift over the Tri-Cities.

Some deteriorated air quality is possible over the next few days, but nothing like what the Tri-Cities saw on Labor Day.

“We’ve never had a day like that,” said Robin Priddy, director of the Benton Clean Air Agency, about the 14 years she has been there.

Overnight light winds had carried smoke from the Cold Springs Canyon Fire/Pearl Hill Fire near Omak, Wash., south to collect over the Tri-Cities.

The air in the morning was so polluted that it was rated as hazardous at times by the Washington state Department of Ecology, a rating not often seen for the Mid-Columbia.

And then there was the dust.

The Washington state Department of Ecology rates air quality on a scale of 1 to 500. As strong winds blew dust through the Tri-Cities, the air was so dirty that it topped out at a rating that would have been higher than 500 if the system went that high.

There was so much dust in the air that the Kennewick monitor stopped automatically reporting readings to the Department of Ecology, Priddy said.

Smoke particles continued to be reported as the wind cleared some of the smoke in the afternoon, but that pollution alone still put the air quality at unhealthy or very unhealthy.

With the dust added to it, it was off the Ecology chart, Priddy said.

The last time she’s seen a local rating off the Ecology chart was Sept. 15, 2013, when a haboob, a wall of dust carried by a weather front, swept into the Tri-Cities.

The peak gusts for the Tri-Cities on Monday were 40 mph about 2:30 p.m. at the Pasco airport and 40 mph in Richland about 1 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The weather was notable not so much for the peak gusts but for sustained wind speeds.

Sustained wind speeds of 31 mph were recorded at the Tri-Cities airport in the early afternoon.

Tri-Cities forecast

Tuesday morning, the air quality in the Tri-Cities was rated as good, but by midday had deteriorated to only moderate quality. The Ecology smoke forecast predicted more moderate air quality on Wednesday.

Skies could grow more hazy through the week, especially in the morning, if fires continue, according to the weather service.

Tuesday was cooler than usual in the Tri-Cities.

Normal highs for early September in the Tri-Cities are in the mid 80s, but the cold front that brought windy weather on Labor Day was expected to drop Tuesday daytime and overnight temperatures about 10 degrees cooler than usual.

Highs should be back in the mid 80s on Wednesday and are forecast to be in the 90s from Friday through at least Monday.

This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 11:26 AM.