Wildfire smoke to affect national parks

Wildfire smoke from fires in and around Spokane, Washington, is expected to spread across a broad stretch of the West and reach some of the country’s busiest national parks by Thursday night. FOX Weather reported that smoke would engulf cities and towns in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana, with parts of Colorado also under air-quality alerts. The forecast adds to disruptions already tied to active fires in the Pacific Northwest, where evacuations, business closures and smoke advisories have spread beyond the fire lines. For park visitors, the immediate issue is less flame than air: hazy skies, reduced visibility and unhealthy conditions for hiking and other strenuous activity. ### Which national parks are in the smoke forecast? FOX Weather said several marquee parks — North Cascades, Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton — were expected to have hazy skies by 5 p.m. Mountain Time Thursday. The outlet tied that outlook to smoke transport from fires near Spokane, where three major wildfires have burned more than 10,000 acres. (foxweather.com) The National Park Service’s air-quality pages show that many parks track particulate pollution and weather in real time, including Glacier, Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Yosemite. That matters because smoke conditions can shift by the hour even when a park itself has no active fire. ### Is the problem smoke inside the parks, or smoke blowing in from elsewhere? Mount Rainier National Park said on August 4 that it had no active wildfires within the park, but that fires across the Pacific Northwest were driving smoke into the area. (foxweather.com) The park said air quality was “Unhealthy,” haze was expected over the next few days and visitors should consider shorter or less strenuous hikes. Washington’s Department of Ecology said smoke from multiple fires was expected to engulf most of Eastern and Central Washington through the week, with haze also visible in Western Washington and smoke mixing into the Puget Sound lowlands. (nps.gov) The agency said shifting winds could carry smoke into additional areas as conditions changed. ### Why is smoke spreading so far beyond Spokane? (go.nps.gov) The Weather Channel said a pattern change on Thursday would turn smoke in western Washington and western Oregon eastward as typical west-to-east winds returned. That smoke was expected to spill across the Rockies late in the week, with Boise still seeing ground smoke and some smoke reaching as far south as Salt Lake City. (ecology.wa.gov) FOX Weather said the same smoke plume would lower air quality across multiple states by Thursday night, with conditions ranging from moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups. The outlet said those conditions were likely to continue for the next few days. ### What does this mean for travelers and hikers on the ground? Mount Rainier told visitors that heat can make smoky air more hazardous and advised people who notice worsening air quality or breathing difficulty on the trail to turn back. (weather.com) The park said limiting time outdoors is the best protection when smoke is present. AirNow’s Fire and Smoke Map says it tracks fine-particle pollution, or PM2.5, from wildfires and other sources. (foxweather.com) The map, run with the EPA and U.S. Forest Service, is one of the main public tools for checking whether smoke aloft is also affecting ground-level air. ### Are closures already happening elsewhere in the region? Oregon fire activity has already triggered evacuations near Mount Hood. Oregon Live reported that Timberline Lodge was placed under a Level 1 “be ready” evacuation order as the Grasshopper Fire grew near Mount Hood National Forest. (go.nps.gov) The next checkpoints for visitors are Thursday evening smoke conditions and weekend park alerts. (fire.airnow.gov) Mount Rainier directed travelers to its alerts-and-conditions page and to AirNow and park air-quality pages for updates, while regional forecasts from FOX Weather and the Weather Channel said smoke would keep moving east through late week. (go.nps.gov) (oregonlive.com)