8 awful air days later, good to moderate conditions expected very soon in Tri-Cities

The Tri-Cities should wake up to air quality rated as good to moderate on Sunday.

But the smoky air may have cleared enough on Saturday afternoon for healthy people to enjoy some time outdoors.

The air quality alert issued by the National Weather Service is set to expire at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“The worst is behind us,” said Ranil Dhammapala of the Washington state Department of Ecology, posting on the Washington smoke blog.

Light winds should be sweeping the smoke from the Tri-Cities from late afternoon Friday through Saturday, according to information from the weather service and Department of Ecology.

Rain also could help clear the air, but there’s only a 20% chance of rain forecast for the Tri-Cities on Friday night with dry weather on Saturday.

No return to poor air quality is forecast, but the amount of smoke in the air depends in part on wildfire activity. The same weather system that will be clearing out the unhealthy air also could bring thunderstorms with the possibility of lightning strikes, including in the Cascade Mountains, starting new fires.

On Friday morning the air in the Tri-Cities was rated as very unhealthy by the Department of Ecology, with only modest clearing expected until late in the day.

The Environmental Protection Agency rated air quality as unhealthy on its scale that allows more pollution in the air before it considers it harmful to health.

Residents were advised to stay indoors, avoid strenuous activity, and keep doors and windows closed.

Benton and Franklin counties have had eight consecutive days with air quality rated as very unhealthy or hazardous through Friday, according to the Department of Ecology.

That compares to the longest stretches in 2018 of two days and in 2017 of three days through mid September of those years.

This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 10:53 AM.