Sweet relief: Air quality back to ‘good’ as drizzle replaces wildfire smoke

Take a deep breath.

Feel that clean, crisp air? Ahhh. It’s been a while.

Air quality returned to “good” in Tacoma on Thursday as winds pushed large amounts of wildfire smoke out of the region.

The National Weather Service’s air-quality alert is set to expire at noon, bringing an end to 87 consecutive hours (nearly four days) of smoky air.

Temperatures dropped Wednesday night, and a light drizzle settled in Thursday morning, accumulating 0.01 inches at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“Wind chimes are ringing, leaves on trees are rustling, window shades are banging, the smell of smoke is fading and there is a feeling of normality and well-being,” Cliff Mass, a University of Washington meteorologist, wrote on his weather blog.

“The normal balance of nature is being restored. It is almost a religious experience.”

Visibility hugely improved Thursday.

Around midnight, you could only see two to four miles ahead in Tacoma and Olympia. By 5 a.m., that was up to 10 miles.

The air will continue to improve through at least Friday, though forecasters warned that northwest winds are expected to move smoke from British Columbia wildfires back into the region this weekend.

“How it will affect air quality is uncertain right now so stay tuned,” the Weather Service said.

This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 10:24 AM.