Why is the air in Utah so bad today? West Coast wildfire smoke is pouring into the state

Smoky air obscures the skyline in Salt Lake City on Friday morning. Wildfire smoke and unhealthy ozone pollution will contribute to bad air quality in Utah. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Authorities issue health warnings

Stay inside today if you can — maybe even over the weekend.

Both Utah air quality regulators and the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City warn that the air you breathe is getting extremely unhealthy, fueled by drifting West Coast wildfire smoke and building ozone pollution.

The weather service said breathing air filled with wood or wildfire smoke is extremely bad for your lungs, causing potential damage. It can also lead to birth defects, nerve damage and more.

While a cold front moving in on Friday will bring relief from the heat, the weather service says it is setting up the perfect conditions for increased smoke, declining air quality and reduced visibility.

8/6 - Smoke concentrations will become very noticeable as the day goes on today. Unhealthy air is expected. What will this mean for you? Avoid/reduce prolonged or heavy exertion. Move activities indoors or reschedule to a time when the air quality is better. #UTwx pic.twitter.com/QldLAhmrHC

— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) August 6, 2021

Wildfires from the West have produced huge columns of smoke that have drifted as far east as New York, creating some of the worst air quality that state has seen in 15 years.

Regionally, most states in the West are being impacted by wildfire smoke from California and Oregon. The western part of Montana is reporting poor air quality, as is the Lake Tahoe region in Nevada and portions of Idaho.

“The whole Northwest is pretty smoky right now,” said Braden Cluster, an air pollution forecaster with the Utah Division of Air Quality.

Thick smoke from upstream fires in northern California will remain across N Utah through the day today. Expect conditions to begin improving tonight as the winds becomes more northerly. The two images below are smoke forecasts for 3pm (2100 UTC) and 1am tonight (0700 UTC). #utwx pic.twitter.com/ZYnexciQnr

— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) August 6, 2021

Cluster said monitoring stations are picking up some extreme values of fine-particulate pollution — the kind that plagues the state during the winter months.

Air quality in multiple counties — Utah, Salt Lake, Tooele and Davis — was downgraded to unhealthy by the DAQ earlier Friday because of the high amount of fine-particulate pollution. Salt Lake County is sitting at 47.7 micrograms per meter-cubed. The federal threshold is 35.

“We are seeing pretty alarming PM2.5 numbers in some of these countries this morning,” Cluster said. “PM2.5 concentrations are going up so fast we decided to upgrade some of those counties to unhealthy.”

Other counties may join that category.

And, he added, the 1-minute values are off the charts. A monitoring station in Murray picked up a 1-minute reading of 324. Other sites are measuring triple-digit readings as well.

Cluster said conditions will only get worse as the day goes on and those conditions are unlikely to improve until at least Tuesday, when the winds shift to southerly.

“The way the winds are happening right now, they are pulling all that smoke toward us,” he said.

Multiple emergency dispatch centers reported being swamped by callers concerned about the smoke and worried about local fires being the culprit.

Centerville police in Davis County issued a tweet this morning about the smoke, as did the Sandy Fire Department, Summit County, Salt Lake police and the governor.

We have confirmed with the National Weather Service that the thick smoke we are experiencing is coming from Northern Calif and Oregon. Our dispatch centers are getting overwhelmed with calls about smoke, unfortunately, we are unable to change the jet stream.

— Centerville Police (@cpdutah) August 6, 2021

While Utah has not experienced any mega-wildfires this season, last month Utah Gov. Spencer Cox warned that the fire season is far from over and begged residents to remain vigilant.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality warned in a series of tweets that Friday is a “red” mandatory action day due to poor air quality.

The agency said vulnerable populations such as the very young and elderly or those with heart or lung conditions should avoid prolonged exertion outside.

Cluster said given the extreme amount of wildfire smoke impacting the state, everyone should take precautions.

“When the smoke gets that bad we encourage people whether unhealthy or not to stay inside as much as possible.”

Tomorrow’s air quality will be Unhealthy in SLCo, and it looks like more smoke blowing in from W and NW fires will make bad conditions worse. We want you to stay safe out there. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/dDB5tB3Uxo

— Utah DEQ (@UtahDEQ) August 5, 2021

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The sun sets over Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Utah air quality regulators say smoke from the West Coast will bring significantly lower air quality to much of Utah Friday.

If people do have to get out and about, the agency said residents should do what they can to avoid contributing more emissions such as carpooling, telecommuting, trip-chaining and fueling up with Tier 3 gasoline, which reduces a vehicle’s emissions greatly.

Motorists can go to a specially designed website to learn which gas stations offer the fuel.

Ozone is ground level smog that gets in the lungs and causes respiratory issues. It is regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Industrial activity and traffic contribute to ozone pollution values.

The federal standard for ozone is 70 parts per million. As of 10 a.m. Friday, Salt Lake County’s level sat at 47 parts per million.

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