![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
51 days to go
Sep. 13th, 2020 06:40 pmI said something about wildfires being pushed out of the headlines last week, didn't I? Not a problem now.
Through an accident of topography, our air stayed relatively clean until the winds stopped on Thursday. Then the cloud of smoke which had been hovering over us the last couple days dropped to ground level, and since then our air quality index has been oscillating between horrid and nightmarish. And we're still doing better than downtown Portland.
Westerly winds were supposed to start pushing the smoke away this weekend, but their arrival has been delayed and delayed. Part of this is apparently that the smoke is blocking so much sunlight that the afternoon heating we need to get the winds going isn't happening. We were supposed to be seeing temperatures over 90F and instead the air outside is chilly and stagnant.
At least we are in no direct danger from fire. We're on the other side of town from the wildfire you've heard about which is threatening the Portland suburbs. The nearest fire to us was a relatively small one a few miles to the south which has already been largely contained.
Rain is supposed to be coming Monday night and Tuesday, but it's unlikely to do more than provide some temporary relief. The big fires aren't expected to be out until the fall rains arrive in force, which may happen any time between right now and the end of October.
It'll be such a relief to go back to only worrying about a pandemic and a contentious election. 2020, amirite?
Through an accident of topography, our air stayed relatively clean until the winds stopped on Thursday. Then the cloud of smoke which had been hovering over us the last couple days dropped to ground level, and since then our air quality index has been oscillating between horrid and nightmarish. And we're still doing better than downtown Portland.
Westerly winds were supposed to start pushing the smoke away this weekend, but their arrival has been delayed and delayed. Part of this is apparently that the smoke is blocking so much sunlight that the afternoon heating we need to get the winds going isn't happening. We were supposed to be seeing temperatures over 90F and instead the air outside is chilly and stagnant.
At least we are in no direct danger from fire. We're on the other side of town from the wildfire you've heard about which is threatening the Portland suburbs. The nearest fire to us was a relatively small one a few miles to the south which has already been largely contained.
Rain is supposed to be coming Monday night and Tuesday, but it's unlikely to do more than provide some temporary relief. The big fires aren't expected to be out until the fall rains arrive in force, which may happen any time between right now and the end of October.
It'll be such a relief to go back to only worrying about a pandemic and a contentious election. 2020, amirite?
