The lingering effects of the weekend’s 20-degree temperature drop are sure to coax some heat-wary residents outside, but the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality warns that the welcoming breeze could be deceiving.
Smoke from wildfires blasting through drought-accosted parts of the western U.S. and central Canada caught a ride on the same jet stream that brought cooler temperatures from the north to the south, making for a milky haze over much of the state and placing a notable damper on air quality.
“There’s a plume of smoke over the whole Midwest,” said Craig Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa. “This particular smoke looks like it’s originating in Canada.”
Air quality in Tulsa and Washington counties was in the red “unhealthy” level Monday, which is the fourth of six tiers, with the sixth being “hazardous,” according to the DEQ’s Air Quality Index.
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The unhealthy label carries a cautionary statement that warns people with respiratory or heart disease, elderly people and children to limit prolonged outdoor exertion.
The DEQ issued public messaging early Sunday before the wildfire smoke’s waltz into the state, and officials encouraged residents to sign up for the agency’s Air Quality Health Advisories at bit.ly/OKAirQualityAdvisories. Health advisories are issued via email or text when ozone, particulate matter or carbon monoxide in the region’s air reaches unhealthy levels.
Notice of the advisories could come in handy, considering that meteorologists expect this haze to become more common as others continue to battle fires outside the state.
The current jet stream pattern is expected to shift mid- to late this week, Sullivan said, which will raise temperatures once again and clear some haze, but with a fire season as bad as North America’s current one, it’s likely to return.
“I suspect we’ll see, periodically, smoke like this until all that dies down,” which could be through fall, Sullivan said.
The National Wildlife Coordinating Group has estimated that the Bootleg Fire, which started July 6 from a lightning strike in Oregon, will be fully contained by Oct. 1. The Dixie Fire that started the following week in northern California is expected to be contained within weeks.
Two more lightning-sparked wildfires threatened the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California, as crews also battled major blazes in northeast Washington and northern Idaho.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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