no destination asks for PNW Smoke and travel plans input!

[hoyden]

It seems the PNW is covered in smoke, and in some areas, ashes as well. I'm currently in Yachats, OR camped at a friend's place. My plan wasn't to head towards New Mexico until after the Labor Day crowds went away, but I'm itching to get back on the road.

My loose plan was to go visit friends in Portland, perhaps head over to the Gorge, then further East on 84, or down through Bend, and down into the Malheur NF and souther from there, hitting up some hot springs off hwy 395 before going more Easterly.

I'm thinking now that my "plans" will greatly depend on how smoky those areas are.

Any of yous have a good online resource for this type of info, or can chime in from your NWesterly location?

Thanks!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Lady Bug,

Here’s a resource for fires... https://inciweb.nwcg.gov I believe there are sites that show smoke directions, but I don’t have a link.

Saturday, I was in the Condon, OR area, and it was very smokey. The previous Thursday, there were 20ish lightning strike fires in that general.

Which hot springs are you considering?

PM me if you want to chat.

 

[hoyden]

Thanks, Sage!

 

[MarkBC]

FWIW: I drove from Bend to Redding this afternoon and it was smoky all the way. I couldn't see Mt Shasta from the highway! :O

 

[DavidGraves]

Hi Dawn

FWIW it has also been very smokey the last two nays here on the north coast.....from fires in BC.

The wind currents make it hard to escape....

Much nicer today with an onshore breeze.

David Graves

 

[Taku]

Look for a weather change Sunday night and Monday. May clear things up enough to stay

 

[Taku]

Here are some links:

https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/land/hms.html

https://airquality.weather.gov/sectors/pacnorthwest.php

http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/

Those should give you some idea of what is out there.

 

[windy]

Hate to be the bearer of worse news:

“CBS News Seattle-has the worst air in the world right now, worse than Beijing. Equivalent to smoking 81/1’2 packs of cigarettes. Oregon and WA have the top worst air quality in 5 cities in the USA right now. “

Supposed to maybe start clearing out in the Gorge tomorrow afternoon and the forecast is for continuous improvement thru the weekend.

 

[hoyden]

Wow.

Thanks all youse for the informations! I'll check out links tomorrow and work on plans.

 

[kmcintyre]

Boise, ID and areas around here are terrible. Red air quality alert has been in effect for a while now. Not sure if it's changing any time soon.

 

[hoyden]

 

[windy]

It cleared up quite a bit in the Gorge today. I’m not at home but my wife says she could see the clouds and blue sky. A huge improvement. No watery itchy eyes or scratchy throat today [emoji2]

 

[klahanie]

I'm seeing from the link below that most of OR doesn't look too bad Fri and Sat (jump to 0:21)

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/videos/gallery/relentless-smoke-to-fill-up-valleys-and-swipe-vancouver-again-details-here/sharevideo/5825990631001

played with the modeling here, but not as slick as the in the first link. select 'vertically integrated smoke' and drag 'time' bar

https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/index.html#

 

[hoyden]

Thanks for the update, windy!

and klahanie also thanks! unfortunately, my interwebz connection right now isn't good enough for vid streaming! Ah, the perils of life on the road and modern technology! but I appreciate the info!

 

[windy]

1st world problems

 

[klahanie]

^ Yeah, remember when you had to actually get up, go outside and look to see what the weather was like...

 

[hoyden]

Ha!
I have my dislikes of technology, but I do like that I can find out what weather is like in places hundred+ miles away on my route

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I'm seeing from the link below that most of OR doesn't look too bad Fri and Sat (jump to 0:21)

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/videos/gallery/relentless-smoke-to-fill-up-valleys-and-swipe-vancouver-again-details-here/sharevideo/5825990631001

played with the modeling here, but not as slick as the in the first link. select 'vertically integrated smoke' and drag 'time' bar

https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/index.html#

Thanks for this link.Now I can see why we here in Monterey are getting so much smoke.
Frank

 

[longhorn1]

Dawn, Safe travels. Great info for you

 

[hoyden]

Thanks!
I'm (probably) heading towards Bend, OR tomorrow, then make my way to New Mexico.
It's finally cool enough to head to the lovely Southwest.
I'm not worried about the smoke, just prefer to avoid it for my lungs, doggies too, and views (and hope that the fires are getting more contained. )

Not really wanting to be out there during Labor Day weekend, but as nice as it's been staying with my friends in Yachats, OR., I'm getting antsy to get back on the road.