Brush fires continue to burn early this weekend across our region. At least four brush fires have burned 2,200 acres in the last week.
The Air Quality Alert continues through Midnight. We are seeing the smoke disperse during the day and the levels return to normal though thanks to the sunshine mixing out the inversion.
The other good news is the Highland Fire is now 70% contained, so despite low humidity and a breezy southeast wind, it will likely not spread much this afternoon.
The southeast wind will remain elevated today and the humidity low, so the other ongoing fires could grow in size. The air quality should remain in the green category thanks to the dispersion (unless you live within a few miles of these fires, then the air quality will be moderate to orange).
An inversion will develop in the lower atmosphere overnight. This will likely trap the smoke closer to the ground and allow it to spread northwest. Therefore, air quality will likely drop to moderate levels along and west of Route 19, but likely not the Orange category since winds will be elevated.
The Southeast wind will likely keep much of the Greenbrier Valley and our southern coalfields clear of deteriorating air quality overnight and Sunday. This… because the brush fires in adjacent southwest Virginia have been contained and are very small in size.
Moderate air quality is likely along and northwest of Route 219, including Marlinton, Sunday thanks to a southeast wind pushing smoke northwest from the Douthards Creek Fire near Beaver Lick Road.
During the day on Sunday, the lower cloud deck and stubborn inversion will keep the air quality likely in the moderate range. This includes part of the Route 19 corridor thanks to the southeast wind pushing smoke from the Highland Fire towards the northwest. Therefore, the air quality should be one category worse than today thanks to the inversion but not as bad as this past Thursday because the winds will stir things up a bit. Rain arrives later in the day and ends Monday morning with about 0.15-0.40″.
Between Noon-2 p.m. Monday, the inversion will break behind a cold front and the smoke will once again disperse.
Smoke from the Whitman Fire just west of the Logan County Airport was seen on satellite imagery earlier today (image below). The east to southwest wind was pushing the smoke plume into Kentucky.
