News and opinion about wildland fire
The primary culprits for smoke in the United States on October 8, 2020 are the Red Salmon and August Fires that have been burning for weeks in Northern California, a few scattered fires in Oregon and Idaho, three fires in Colorado and Wyoming, one in northeast Utah, and the Cow Canyon Fire on the Arizona-New Mexico border.
October 4, 2020 | 6:09 a.m. PDT
What just a few hours of covering a #wildfire does to P95 respirator mask filters. #smoke #fire #n95 #napavalley #glassfire #photojournalism pic.twitter.com/oFd6uq2rHn
— Samuel Corum (@corumphoto) October 4, 2020
Photographers at a wildland fire may be able to use and tolerate a mask that traps 95 percent of the 0.3 micron particulates in smoke, but the devices are not practical for firefighters. (see photo above)
In case you are wondering, masks and respirators are divided into rating classes: N is not oil resistant, R is oil resistant, and P is oil proof. The number, such as 95, refers to the percent of particles removed that are at least 0.3 microns in diameter.
Be careful out there.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized2 Comments on Smoke and air quality forecasts and maps, October 3-4, 2020 October 3, 2020 | 10:40 a.m. PDT
The first two maps are for air quality, from AirNow.gov. The first was current at 10 a.m. PDT October 3. The second is the forecast for Sunday, October 4.
The map below is the forecast for near surface wildfire smoke at noon PDT, Saturday October 3, 2020. The one after that is the forecast for 1 a.m. PDT Oct. 4, 2020. It is interesting that the air quality maps (above) do not detect or predict a serious air quality issue in Colorado around the Mullen Fire.
Above is the forecast for wildfire smoke at 8 p.m. PDT September 28, 2020. Most of the smoke from the California fires is being transported out over the Pacific. Some of the smoke from the Wyoming and Colorado fires has blown south into New Mexico and Arizona.
The map above is the forecast for smoke at noon MDT Saturday, September 26, 2020.
Below is the forecast for noon MDT Sunday, September 27, 2020.
Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories Uncategorized3 Comments on Smoke and air quality maps, September 19, 2020 September 19, 2020 | 4:42 p.m. MDT
The text in the Tweet below is about Utah, but the map shows the smoke forecast for the Western U.S. through Monday morning. After you click to begin the animation, you can click again to stop and start it.
Wildfire Smoke Update
Areas of haze from wildfire smoke to our west will increase a bit tomorrow, especially later in the day. Note, this will be less dense than the smoke we saw this morning. Periods of haze will remain possible into the upcoming week. #utwx pic.twitter.com/TMLroL297p
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) September 20, 2020
The air quality in the western states has improved over the levels seen several days ago.
Bookmark https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/ so you can easily find articles on Wildfire Today about wildfire smoke.
