OREGON, USA — Smoke from numerous wildfires in central and eastern Oregon is contributing to poor air quality across much of the state to the east of the Cascades. The worst air quality is in the Malheur and Whitman National Forests to the west of the massive Durkee Fire, with "Hazardous" Air Quality Index readings.
Most counties in southeast Oregon are experiencing air quality ranging from "Unhealthy for sensitive groups" up to "Very Unhealthy," and forecasts from the National Weather Service and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) say the situation is unlikely to change much in the coming days.
DEQ has issued an Air Quality Alerts for Harney, Malheur, Grant and Baker counties, urging residents to stay indoors where possible and warning that smoke levels could change rapidly. It has also issued an Air Quality Advisory for Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties.
DEQ has also marked out four "Smoke Outlook" forecast zones across Oregon, where officials are predicting smoke impacts over the coming days. Two overlapping zones, one covering the Battle Mountain Complex and another covering the Durkee Fire, collectively cover almost the entire northeast quarter of the state. The other two zones overlap to cover most of the Cascades range south of Salem, extending out to Bend.
Almost everywhere west of the Cascades is unaffected as of midday Thursday, with monitoring stations showing "Good" air quality in Portland, the Willamette Valley and extending south to Medford. A graphic published by the National Weather Service Thursday afternoon shows the smoke from Oregon's wildfires still being blown mostly east or south over the next day.
A small amount of smoke could blow back toward the Portland metro area on Friday, according to KGW Chief Meteorologist Matt Zaffino.
Air quality is also still generally pretty good along the Columbia River Gorge aside from some specific hotspots; the city of Mosier, near the Microwave Tower Fire, is rated Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, and monitoring stations near The Dalles show "Moderate" air quality due to nearby fires.
"A couple of them burning out in the Columbia River Gorge. So far, those are still smaller fires: hundreds of acres not thousands of acres," KGW meteorologist Rod Hill said.