Many of us are still dealing with poor air quality this week. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an alert through Thursday afternoon for Central and Southern Oregon and the Willamette Valley.
Dylan Darling is with the Oregon DEQ. He said, “One thing that’s been a challenge this year is sometimes, smoke will be very localized and there might be a place you can go for some relief, but we’re seeing smoke in a lot of different parts of the state right now.”
Darling said lately, low air quality is widespread, and smoke is coming from wildfires in the Oregon Cascades as well as Northern California. He said while daily temperature swings can change wind patterns and bring some relief, the rest of September is forecast to be dry. When smoke levels are high, the DEQ advises staying inside, avoiding strenuous activity, and installing High Efficiency Particulate Air filters to indoor systems.
The Oregon DEQ points to the U.S. Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program for Lane and Deschutes County daily forecasts here.