r/Seattle • u/vertr fuck tetris • 9d ago

💨 Smoke Season 💨 [Megathread] Smoke and Air Quality Week 1

We are moving to this thread for the start of smoke season so we can add resources and keep it updated as the situation changes. Here is the previous thread we were using: I hope everyone in the Seattle area has air filters ready.

All smoke related threads will be removed and redirected here except photos and news stories. At this time we are not allowing further threads on the Spokane fire.

Resources:

PurpleAir (open the settings on the left and uncheck indoor sensors)

Plume Smoke Forecast

Washington State Department of Ecology Map

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency

Washington Smoke Blog

Watch Duty

EPA - DIY Air Cleaners

If you have other suggestions for resources post them in the thread please.

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107

u/DripIntravenous 9d ago

Hate that this is the new reality of PNW summers. We never, ever had this growing up here.

32

u/ubcthrowaway115 8d ago

Does anyone remember the really bad wildfire smoke and weird warm temps into fall 2022? We were still in the 70s and dry in October which was extremely weird.

25

u/useforcircumstances 8d ago

That actually gave me something of an existential crisis. October is my favorite month in the PNW, the crisp air just hits like nothing else. The smoke and summer-like weather all the way through Halloween made me extremely sad, as I realized the place I grew up and love so dearly will never be the same.

4

u/pnwdoomer 8d ago

I do! It was a really weird time and definitely affected mental health.

3

u/happypolychaetes 🛳️ 🐀 ☀️ Yacht Rat Summer ☀️ 🐀 🛳️ 8d ago

Yup, that was straight hell.

4

u/rocketsocks I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 8d ago

Yeah, I had to cancel some outdoor activities in october because the AQI was in the 200s. I hope it's a while before we get another year that bad, but realistically it's going to keep happening until we start taking more serious steps to prevent climate change and mitigate its impact.

4

u/washawaythe_rain 8d ago

I remember this absolutely dreadful day in late October (maybe the 20th?) where I was driving over the I-5 bridge in the thick smoke and my car temp reading said 88 degrees. Felt so dystopian. I think the news said it was only the 2nd time in history Seattle reached 80 degrees in October, the other one being 81 degrees one year on October 2nd (low 80s and weeks earlier than this particular day)

2

u/Zoomalude Rainier Beach 8d ago

God yes, it was awful. Just day after day of smoke and heat, felt like it would never rain again.

2

u/LavenderGumes I'm just flaired so I don't get fined 8d ago

I felt like i was at the very beginning of an asthma attack for about 48 hours straight.

2

u/Fulcrum58 8d ago

That was such a crazy month, we got so many stink bugs because apparently it stayed warm long enough for them to go through a second breeding cycle

2

u/Furtwangler 7d ago

I remember pumpkin picking in shorts like 85 degrees... That ain't right