By Susan Hess. July 12, 2018. Fire season arrived in the Gorge this month with a fire near Rowena, Oregon. Last fall?s Eagle Creek Fire poured smoke into the Gorge. “Wildfire smoke is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant material. The gases and fine particles can be dangerous if inhaled,” the Oregon Health Authority writes.
The States of Oregon and Washington post daily reports on how clean the air is and provide information on potential health risks. These reports cover a variety of pollutants besides smoke. Both states put the information on easy-to-use maps, like the one below from July 11 at the White Salmon, WA monitoring station.
July 11, 2018. White Salmon, WA air quality. Green indicates: Good
Oregon
The Air Quality Index is a daily measure of how clean the air is and provides information on potential health risks. “Oregon?s index is based on three pollutants regulated by the federal Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution and nitrogen dioxide. The highest of the AQI values for the individual pollutants becomes the AQI value for that day. For example, if values are 90 for ozone and 88 for nitrogen dioxide, the AQI reported would be 90 for the pollutant ozone on that day,” OR DEQ website. To put a link on your phone search for OregonAir in your app store.
Oregon air quality map: Air Quality Index
Check the information page, Air Quality Today for more.
Washington
Washington’s Air Monitoring Network is a service of the Washington Department of Ecology: “We manage smoke, car pollution, industrial emissions, and other pollutants so communities have healthy air to breathe.”
Washington air quality map. Air Quality Monitoring Website
