Wildfire Smoke Decreases Air Quality in The Northwest

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Wildfires are hurting air quality in much of Washington, as forecasters issued a stagnant weather advisory to last at least through Wednesday afternoon.

The National Weather Service says smoke from the blazes has drifted west over the Cascade Range but has not yet settled close to the ground. That could change by Tuesday, when some smoke is expected in the western foothills of the Cascades.

An inversion moved into the Wenatchee area east of the mountains on Sunday evening, holding smoke in the region where 1,700 people were fighting a complex of wildfires burning on about 51 square miles.

Hundreds of people have been evacuated as the fires were helped by unseasonably warm temperatures.

The area is extremely dry, and conditions are right for rapid growth of existing fires and new fire starts.