Wednesday, September 24, 2014, Wildfire Air Quality Report for the Klamath Region

Air Quality Summary                                                              

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Prepared by: Ryan Bauer (USDA-FS)

Yesterday Smoke trapped in the Wooley Creek and Salmon River drainage and in Scott Valley cleared out by noon. Ft Jones had the highest smoke impacts, in the “moderate” range. Ft Jones and Weed started the day with moderate smoke impacts but by noon had improved to the good range. All other monitors measure good air quality throughout the day. Strong southerly winds kept smoke from settling back into Scott Valley in the evening. No significant smoke impacts were seen in southern Oregon.  Today All monitors are showing clean air this morning. Southerly winds will continue over the region today with rain and showers throughout the day. Smoke impacts are not predicted to occur at any of the monitor locations around the fire today. As the storm approaches it could push smoke down drainage ahead of itself but any impacts will be short term and fairly unpredictable. Some blowing dust and ash is still possible in Weed until the rains arrive due to gusty winds in advance of the cold front. Rain and showers are forecast to continue through the evening. Tomorrow Continued showers and southerly winds are forecast through tomorrow. Air quality should remain good for all areas. Winds become northerly Friday and a slight chance of showers lingers all the way into Tuesday. This should keep smoke production to a minimum well into next week.
Site	September 23 Yesterday’s AQI	September 24 Today’s AQI	September 25 Predicted AQI	Likely Time of Highest Impacts Today
Yreka	Good	Good	Good	None
Fort Jones	Moderate	Good	Good	Afternoon/Early Evening
Etna	Good	Good	Good	None
Seiad Valley	Good	Good	Good	None
Happy Camp	Good	Good	Good	None
Somes Bar	No Data	Good	Good	Nighttime
Orleans	Good	Good	Good	Nighttime
Wietchpec	Good	Good	Good	None
Hoopa	Good	Good	Good	None
Willow Creek	Good	Good	Good	None
Weed	Good	Good	Good	None
Sawyer's Bar	Good	Good	Good	Late Morning
PLEASE NOTE: The air quality outlook is based on data from automated instruments that have not been subjected to a quality assurance review. AQI’s estimated for sites with air monitors.