SEATTLE — Rain on Friday is expected to begin clearing smoke from fires in the Cascades that has prompted air quality alerts in Jefferson and Clallam counties.
The National Weather Service issued alerts until midnight tonight in Jefferson County — meaning East Jefferson County — and until 6 p.m. today in Clallam County.
A weather system moving in from the west is forecast to bring cleaner air off the Pacific, according to Jacob DeFlitch, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.
Readings from local agencies at about 5 p.m. Wednesday reported air quality in Jefferson County that ranged from unhealthy around Port Townsend to very unhealthy in Nordland.
Clallam County’s air quality was rated unhealthy for sensitive groups, a category considered less badly-polluted with particulate matter from the wildfire smoke than the area farther east.
“We should start to see improvement Thursday night, and especially on Friday when the weather system moves into the area,” DeFlitch said.
Another weather system is forecast to arrive Sunday night with more rain forecast over at least the next 10 days.
The smoke-laden air gave the Pacific Northwest the designation of worst air quality in the U.S. on Tuesday, according to the KGW News meteorologist Joe Raineri in Portland, Ore.
Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with eye and respiratory tract irritation, bronchitis, heart failure, and even premature death, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
