Smoke hovers above Gales Peak on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley
Stagnant air — a soup of haze, smoke and fog — is settling in for the weekend and beyond as a strong inversion traps pollutants in the air, with the potential to cause breathing issues for those already suffering with respiratory problems, the National Weather Service says. While not expected to return to conditions experienced earlier in September caused by wildfire smoke, the effects will likely linger through Monday, October 5.It’s bad enough that the NWS in Portland issued what’s called a “Air Stagnation Advisory” on Thursday afternoon for locales in the region under 2,000 feet of elevation, which is scheduled to end 6 p.m. on Monday. A map of current air quality conditions maintained by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality can be seen at https://oraqi.deq.state.or.us/home/map. Data for western Washington County is collected at a station located on the Pacific University campus in Forest Grove, with other stations dotting the region as well. More information on wildfire smoke can be viewed at http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. During periods of heavy wildfire smoke, here are some tips compiled by a number of Oregon-based agencies:-- Stay indoors whenever possible with the windows and doors shut.-- Reduce other sources of indoor air pollution such as smoke from tobacco, wood-burning stoves and burning candles.-- Use a high-efficiency (HEPA) or electrostatic precipitating (ESP) air-cleaning filter, if available.-- Avoid vacuuming, which can stir up dust.-- When driving is necessary, drive with windows closed and air conditioning set to recirculate.
A pest that has destroyed over 10 million ash trees across the eastern United States is expected to reach its peak emergence in Oregon this month. First discovered in Oregon in trees growing at Forest Grove's Joseph Gale Elementary School, the insects are expected to devastate Oregon's ash trees.
Two recent studies, created independently of each other, that examined the effects of wildfires in Oregon, Washington as well as other parts of the West, found that trees scorched by fire can continue to die for as long as five years after a wildfire.
If the state’s two largest electric utilities get what they’ve asked for, their 1.5 million customers in Oregon could pay 40% more for electricity next year than they did just three years ago.
More Oregonians are suffering from respiratory, heart and mental health issues caused by extreme weather events linked to climate change, and rural, elderly and minority communities are being hit the hardest, a new state report found.
More than a hundred teachers and staff from Banks' three public schools gathered in the Banks Elementary School cafeteria Aug. 19 for a breakfast with their peers and school officials as another school year began. With construction, new security, and a cell phone ban looming, many changes await staf
A crash in Glenwood snarled Labor Day weekend traffic for up to three miles and resulted in minor injuries to at least four people, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue said Saturday.
