SMOKEZILLA Versus the Heat Wave

Today was one of the smokiest days ever in western Washington as the surge of smoke from the fires in British Columbia continued to push southward.  The dense smoke, a.k.a. SMOKEZILLA, was thick enough to appreciably reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface and resulted in cooler temperatures than forecast.   Seattle only hit 91F and Portland topped out at 103F, both locations 3-5F cooler than expected.

SMOKEZILLA was impressive in today's satellite imagery.  The visible satellite imagery at 8 AM, was stunning, with smoke spreading across the lowlands and coastal zone.

The MODIS image around 1 PM shows amazingly dense smoke over NW Washington, with smoke around the entire region, including a plume headed out into the Pacific.

A colleague of mine, Gary Lackmann of NC State, took this picture today from his plane leaving Sea Tac....smoke nearly to the top of Rainier!

Air quality was unhealthy for much of western Washington and a burn ban is in place.  The concentrations of particulates surged higher than yesterday, with locations such as Neah Bay's Cheeka Peak getting to Beijing levels.

What really impressed me was the reduction in solar radiation by the smoke.  Comparing the radiation received today against two days ago, revealed a drop of 11-14% in intensity.  As a result, the high temperatures were clearly suppressed by 3-5F.  Seattle-Tacoma Airport "only" reached 91F, when 95F was expected.  Portland peaked at 103F, when 107-108F was predicted. 

So SMOKEZILLA clearly took the edge off the heat-wave monster.  His (or her) services will be needed tomorrow, which should be the warmest of the sequence in Seattle (around 94F).

And believe it or not, air quality was MUCH better in Beijing today than in Seattle...here is proof:

from Cliff Mass Weather and Climate Blog http://ift.tt/2f9L4AM