Unless you’ve been away and out of the country, or off the grid, for several weeks you are likely well aware that we are smack in the middle of a pretty severe wildfire season, particularly in the Pacific NW and Eastern Canada. Dry conditions, wind, and extreme heat are all adding fuel to the fire (pardon the pun) and emergency responders, government agencies, and resource managers have stretched their resources to the max.
If you’ve been anywhere west of the Mississippi and North of about 44 degrees Latitude you’ve likely noticed smoke – lots of it! The skies are grey and fog-like, visibility is poor, and air quality is a concern. On a recent drive we noticed smokey skies from Utah all the way up to NW Washington State!
In order to stay informed of the air quality and potential hazardous conditions (think elderly, those with respiratory problems and other ailments) there’s some useful map and webmap resources at your disposal. The following are just a couple of noteworthy examples to bookmark. Be sure to consult your local environmental agencies for more detailed local conditions, data, and updates.
This webmap and data resource provides you with access to real-time data from monitoring stations around the country – Canada as well. Zoom to an area of interest, click on a monitoring site to reveal charts, data and other reports. A url is also provided for each station for future, simple access to these data.
Airfire monitoring stations
Data plots available for each station
You may be wondering to yourself, where does all the smoke go from the B.C wildfires? The Government of Canada has a web resource that is regularly updated with maps showing the direction and location of smoke from wildfires – See the wildfire contribution maps HERE
BC Government Air Quality Data
This resource provides current air quality data, reports, warnings and more. Reports are updated daily and delivered as static PDF docs. Air quality data map can be found HERE
Real Time Air Quality KML Data via ArcGIS Online
Idaho Satellite Smoke Analysis Story Map – Interactive decision support for air quality forecasting
Wildfire Maps – Maps, WebMaps and Resources for #BCwildfire Updates and Response Efforts
Esri Startup turns to ArcGIS Online to Help Power B.C Public Wildfire Information Map with OpenData
US Forest Service (USFS) Fighting Wildfires with Mobile Maps – and 10 Wildfire Mapping Resources
Other Resources of Interest:
- EPA Air Quality Data
- Washington State dept. of Ecology – Air Monitoring
- WA Dept of Health air monitoring
- Oregon Air Quality
- Oregon Dept of Environmental Quality
- IDaho Air Quality
- Utah Air Quality
- Colorado Air Quality
- California Air Quality – Airnow
- Global air quality index ratings and webmap
- Is it smokey where you are? Tell us or share a photo via Twitter @geojobegis #wildfireSmoke
Oh my. My view of the #WildfireSmoke coming into #Seattle. Yikes! @RickMitchellWX check this out! pic.twitter.com/aRCQbqkV2B
— Hannah Everman (@HannahEverman) August 4, 2017
