Thick wildfire smoke causes dangerous air quality in the Northwest

Air quality levels reached the very unhealthy category in eastern Washington Monday morning as wildfires in the area coated the Northwest with dangerous smoke.

Massive wildfires in eastern Washington and other parts of the region are causing dangerous air quality in much of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.

As the sun rose Thursday morning, weather satellites showed a massive area of smoke stretching from Washington, Oregon and Idaho, eastward into Montana.

[More wildfire coverage: Before-and-after images show Spokane neighborhoods transformed by wildfires | Check your local air quality]

AccuWeather's Air Quality maps showed "very unhealthy" air quality in these areas, with pockets of "dangerous" air quality in Washington and Oregon.

In Spokane, the AQI was 210 on Tuesday morning, and an Air Quality Alert was issued. By Thursday morning, the AQI had fallen slightly to 141, which is still considered unhealthy. Air quality will remain unhealthy to very unhealthy in the city through the weekend.

At that level, health effects will be immediately felt by sensitive groups, who should avoid outdoor activity. Healthy individuals are likely to experience difficulty breathing and throat irritation. Residents in areas with very unhealthy AQI should stay indoors and reschedule outdoor activities.

As the fires continue, they will loft smoke into the atmosphere in Washington and Oregon through this weekend, AccuWeather Meteorologist Kai Kerkow said.

"Fortunately for cities such as Seattle and Portland," Kerkow noted, "Westerly winds aloft will result in the smoke primarily being blown away from these areas, improving the air quality from what residents there experienced over the last couple of days."

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