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QuickTake:
Overnight settling and shifting winds may bring periods of poor air quality in the southern Willamette Valley.
Cloudy skies and smoke cast a dreary hue over Eugene and Springfield Wednesday afternoon — conditions that could persist into the weekend.
Smoke may settle into the southern Willamette Valley overnight Thursday and into Friday, when calmer winds can trap smoke in the bowl-like landscape, according to the National Weather Service. That could create poor air quality, according to Lane Regional Air Protection Agency.
However, winds from the coast during the day could clear some smoke from the valley, pushing air quality back to moderate levels.
Over the past week, Eugene and Springfield have seen levels fluctuate between moderate and unhealthy for sensitive groups, which include children, older adults and people with heart or lung conditions.
The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency has issued an advisory in eastern Lane County, where Oakridge has seen unhealthy levels for everyone.
Twenty miles southeast of Oakridge, the 26,135-acre Emigrant Fire has burned since lightning ignited it Aug. 24. As of Wednesday, crews had contained none of the fire’s perimeter. Bulldozers have dug lines that have helped keep the blaze south of Forest Road 21.
As of Wednesday, 27 crews, including those from the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry, continued to fight the fire on steep terrain under windy, dry conditions. At times, the fire has burned so intensely it has generated a pyrocumulus cloud.
Thursday’s forecast calls for more weather in eastern Lane County that could fuel fire growth, including possible lightning. In Eugene and Springfield, thunderstorms with showers are also possible after 2 p.m. Friday.
Thunderstorms can produce gusty winds that can push smoke in unexpected places, according to the U.S. Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program.
