Smoke

You know things are bad when you get an e-mail alert that reads "Emergency alert: There is a super massive cloud of smoke outside of California and Oregon.  The wind is changing direction and it's coming your way tomorrow.  You have today to prepare.  Let your family and friends know.".  This week the wind has been easterly so the smoke from wildfires in Central/East Washington was blowing into West Washington.  But now the winds are southerly, so all the smoke from Oregon and California has started blowing into our region today and over the weekend.  And there is a lot more of this smoke, so the air quality was noticeably worse today.  I remember times in California where everything outside got covered with ash from wildfires - I think we're sufficiently far away from the actual fires that that won't happen here.  But doing any sort of exercise outside is highly not recommended - so I won't be doing any hiking this weekend!  In fact, I think they've closed all the parks and beaches in the Seattle-area over the weekend.  Officially, air quality is going to be "Unhealthy", "Very Unhealthy" or "Hazardous" this weekend - so seems like they're still not entirely sure how bad the impact is going to be.  I've left some windows open otherwise my house just gets too hot - but I might have to consider closing them if it deteriorates more.  And if we should stay indoors, then that could make for a very uncomfortable weekend.  These are apocalyptic times.