NORTH BEND, Wash. — The wildfires burning in the region this summer have been causing smoke and haze in the skies. On Saturday most areas in western Washington had “moderate” air quality.
“It's definitely a lot of smoke up here. I think we kind of thought we'd get away from it a little bit, but definitely more smoke out here,” said Edward Poole, a Seattle resident who was spending the day at Rattlesnake Lake in North Bend. “Within the past two days I would say it has definitely gotten smokier."
Others said they haven't noticed the smoke too much.
“I mean, I can kind of smell it, but other than that, it hasn't really affected me,” said Brylee Mann, who lives in Issaquah.
The National Weather Service said the smoke is being brought in by large wildfires in the region.
“We've seen a fairly widespread smoke and haze across the region for the last several days,” said Matthew Cullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “We've kind of hit what seems to be the worst for the moment. And I say for the moment, because it's still August and there's a lot of time ahead.”
He said the smoke is at higher levels in the atmosphere, which is a good thing.
“We're not having as much of it around us all the time. It's when that smoke really lowers down that we start to see some of those health impacts really get bad,” said Cullen.
On Saturday the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency said people in King County should take it easy with high intensity outdoor activities and that people in sensitive groups could feel impacts walking outside.
But the NWS said wind coming from the West should help the smoke start clearing out Sunday and keep improving through Tuesday.
“Well, I hope for clear skies, but the weather is still gorgeous,” said Poole.