Smoke persists over Tri-Cities. Now another threat to air quality is forecast

Smoke-tainted air is forecast to be replaced by blowing dust on Columbus Day in the Tri-Cities, according to the National Weather Service.

The air quality in the Tri-Cities, Wash., area has been mostly in the moderate range since Wednesday Oct. 5, with the exception of air that briefly was unhealthy for sensitive people in the early morning hours of Thursday.

The Washington Smoke Blog says a stubborn high pressure system is to blame.

The Washington state Department of Ecology predicts continued air quality due to smoke to be mostly moderate through Wednesday in Benton and Franklin counties.

Hazy skies should improve on Monday, but by 5 p.m. that day until early Tuesday morning areas of blowing dust are forecast by the weather service.

Sustained wind speeds of 13 to 18 mph are forecast with gusts as high as 24 mph.

The Washington Smoke Blog says that once the wind dies down smoky skies could return to the state.

Even with no rain, smoke from active fires will begin to slowly decrease as longer nights and cooler days set in, writes Matthew Dehr on the blog.

“We are in the midst of the driest and warmest October since at least 1987, so this pattern is decidedly not normal,” according to Dehr.

It will take widespread rain to extinguish fires, including the Bolt Creek Fire burning about 30 miles north of Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains, he said.

“Just 1 inch of rain falling on the area of the Bolt Creek fire is equivalent to dumping 353 million gallons of water,” he posted. The fire has burned more than 20 square miles.

Cooler weather is forecast for the Tri-Cities starting Tuesday, with highs dropping into the mid 70s from Tuesday through Saturday, but temperatures will still be above normal, according to weather service data.

Normal highs for this week of October are about 69 degrees.

This story was originally published October 9, 2022 at 12:14 PM.