Guest Post by Washoe County Air Quality: Wildfire Smoke in Northern Nevada


Special thanks to Washoe County Air Quality for being our first Guest Post! Enjoy! - NWS Reno 
Wildfires happen in the Sierra Nevada every year. The intensity and frequency of wildfires has been exacerbated with the increasingly dry conditions during the exceptional drought period across California and Nevada. If you are not close enough to the fire to be concerned with life and property, the next concern is your health in relation to smoke from wildfire. Let's take a look back at how much fine particulates (PM2.5) found in smoke has impacted the Northern Nevada region. 

Here are the top three 24-hour average PM2.5 air quality indexes (AQIs) for downtown Reno (2000-2015): 
1. CA Wildfires 6/25/08 - AQI 182 Unhealthy
2. King Fire 9/18/14 - AQI 174 Unhealthy
3. Rim Fire 8/23/13 - AQI 169 Unhealthy
For all three wildfire events, Northern Nevada experienced several days to over a week of smoke impacts above the 24 hour average National Ambient Air Quality Standard of PM2.5 set by the Environmental Protection Agency (AQI≥101).


Although these three wildfire days were considered Unhealthy with AQIs above 151, there were several hours during each of these days in which the air quality was not so bad. Here is a graph of the hourly PM2.5 AQIs from AirNow during one and a half days of the King Fire and how quickly the air quality can change:






When the air quality is in the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups range or higher due to wildfire smoke, Be Smoke Smart and take precautions such as:
  • checking local air quality forecast and current conditions on AirNow.gov or your local air district website 
  • staying indoors with the windows closed; if too warm go to evacuation center or away from the area 
  • running an air conditioner if you have one, but keeping the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean 
  • reducing activity and staying hydrated 
  • keeping indoor air as clean as possible 
    • eliminate tobacco smoke 
    • don’t use candles 
    • don’t vacuum – (yes, I am giving you an excuse not to clean.) 
  • following the advice of your doctor 
  • not relying on dust masks 
  • evacuating or temporarily relocating if needed 
Thanks to the National Weather Service in Reno for being a partner in getting wildfire smoke information out to the public. For more information on local air quality for Washoe County, go to OurCleanAir.com.


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