Smoke floating thousands of feet above the ground on Friday has meant a mostly harmless haze for Seattle, but national parks much closer to wildfires are issuing warnings and closing some trails.
Air quality in Seattle and much of the metropolitan area has been good to moderate on the Air Quality Index Thursday and Friday, even as a warm glow settled over the city.
Much of the wildfire smoke has been aloft thousands of feet above the ground in Western Washington.
"You can see it, but you can't breathe it," wrote Beth Friedman, a lead air quality modeler and forecaster for the Washington State Department of Ecology, in a Friday post on Washington Smoke Blog.
Friedman said some smoke may impact the foothill communities such as Enumclaw, with periods of "unhealthy for sensitive groups" air possible in eastern King and Pierce counties and western Kitsap County Friday and Saturday.
In the eastern part of Mount Rainier near where the Wildcat fire has surpassed 6,500 acres, the air quality has reached very unhealthy and even hazardous conditions.
In response, the national park has closed:
Highway 123 has been closed to traffic between Cayuse Pass and Stevens Canyon Road.
On the far west side of the state, the northern half of Lake Cushman and Staircase trailheads and campgrounds in and around the Olympic National Forest and National Park remain closed to the public as the Bear Gulch fire burns at over 10,000 acres. The air quality just south of the fire is unhealthy, but transitions to good conditions nearer the Hood Canal.
While firefighters continue to work and debris continue to fall on roads in the area, the following trails and campgrounds are closed:
North Cascades National Park has advised the public to "take precautions when recreating outdoors when heavy smoke is present."
Little Beaver Trail from Ross Lake to Stillwell Camp is closed, along with several camps including Little Beaver Group and Perry Creek.
The Perry fire, the closest wildfire to the park, has reached more than 1,300 acres. Air quality south of the fire near Ross Lake ranges from unhealthy to hazardous.
Smoke from fires across the state that lingers thousands of feet over Seattle might be on its way out the door. Incoming chances of rain this weekend could cleanse the haze from the sky.
Areas east of the Cascades will continue to see poor air quality through the weekend, Friedman wrote.