When will there be relief? Here's the best chance for clean air in Seattle this week

The wind didn't come, and the rain looks to be delayed.

So, when will there be relief?

It was supposed to come Monday, as a weather system with cleaner marine air would come in, blowing the smoke away, according to the National Weather Service. But, in a blog post, the Washington State Department of Ecology put the blame for little improvement on the weather system flattening as it reached the coast, and any progress it did make will likely be erased by light southerly winds hauling smoke directly from Oregon fires along the Interstate 5 corridor.

Now, it could be until Thursday when major improvements to the air quality come, NWS said in a Monday afternoon news release. A blog post from the department of ecology Tuesday morning pushed that to Friday with a release of the latest forecast.

"Not pinning too much hopes on the weather system and slight rain expected tonight either," the blog post said. "Substantial clearing is will have to wait until the Friday- Saturday timeframe."

The department of ecology tweeted that Monday night's rain did little to break up pollution levels. Seattle's air quality was still in the "very unhealthy" to "hazardous" range.

Rain did fall in Seattle Monday night and early Tuesday morning, marking the first measureable rainfall in September, and light showers will continue through Wednesday. But it won't be enough and isn't paired with wind to drive the smoke away until at least Thursday.

In Seattle and the rest of the Pacific Northwest, the air quality has been "moderate" to "hazardous" for the past week, since wildfires in all three West Coast states raged in unprecedented volume. Those working outdoors have suffered stinging eyes and even coronavirus-like symptoms. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people to limit their time indoors, and now the dome of smoke is sending them back in.

For the past few days, Seattle and Portland have gone back and forth as the cities with the worst air quality in the world, according to IQAir. However some smaller cities in Oregon have reached air quality index numbers that were twice that of Portland. Spokane had a reading of 499, breaking its record, the Spokesman-Review reported Sunday.

An interactive map from the Washington State Department of Ecology shows air quality throughout most of the Puget Sound region as "hazardous" as of Tuesday morning.

Read on for updates from some of the fires being tracked by the Incident Information System:

• Cold Springs

The Cold Springs fire started Sept. 6 near Omak and spread quickly throughout the next day due to a combination of strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity. As of Sunday evening, the fire had grown to 188,852 acres, with 50% of the perimeter contained by the 305 firefighters working on it.

• Pearl Hill

The Pearl Hill fire started Sept. 7 near Bridgeport, initially reported as combined with the Cold Springs fire. As of Monday early morning, it had grown to 223,730 acres, with 87% of the perimeter contained by the 315 firefighters working on it.

More than 50 structures, including homes, had been destroyed with more threatened. Level three evacuations were in place for the area. No injuries were reported.

• Inchelium Complex

The Inchelium Complex fire, started Sept. 7, was a combination of three active fires — the Inchelium Highway fire, the Fry fire, and Kewa Field fire — burning timber and brush in the area on the Colville Indian Reservation.

As of Monday morning, it had grown to 18,940 acres with 48% of it contained by the 458 firefighters working on it.

• Big Hollow

The Big Hollow fire started Sept. 8 in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and as of Monday morning had grown to 20,805 acres with 10% of it contained by the 262 firefighters working on it.

• Whitney

The Whitney fire started Sept. 7 between the towns of Davenport, Creston and Odessa in Lincoln County. It had grown to 125,123 acres as of Monday morning and was 65% contained by the 340 firefighters working on it. It was caused by a downed powerline and has been spread by extreme winds, burning brush and forested areas.

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