Although it may have smelled strongly of smoke Thursday, National Weather Service Meteorologist Colby Neuman said air quality in Eugene saw highs in the “moderate” range.
Neuman doubts the smoke and haze was from the Emigrant fire, and said it was possibly from wildfires on the Olympic Peninsula. He said any degraded air should clear out as winds shift to the north Friday.
Neuman said AQI levels may differ on various air quality sites. He recommended trusting the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's monitors, which are regularly calibrated. He said you can also take note of visual landmarks:
“There’s a pretty good correlation between air quality and visibility," Neuman told KLCC. "So when the visibility starts dropping to around five, six miles, that's when it starts to get into that unhealthy for sensitive groups. And then when it's in that like one to three mile range, and that's because of smoke, that's typically when we start getting into the flat-out unhealthy for everyone.”
Neuman said there’s a visibility sensor at the Eugene airport.
Matt Sorensen at the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency said the sensors on their site are DEQ monitors.
He agreed that Thursday evening’s air smelled quite smoky, which may have caused some sports practice cancellations, but said LRAPA’s AQI readings reached a high of 85 in Eugene.
