The skies are smokey all day. The moon is a creepy red at night. At least the sunsets are fantastic lately, but the wildfire smoke is hanging over Lane County in an apocalyptic haze this week.
There are fires to the south of us and around the West — Oregon is reporting nine large fires the National Interagency Fire Center says — and a large swathe of Oregon is in an extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
While Portland and Southern Oregon are reporting air quality issues, Lane Regional Air Protection Agency (LRAPA)’s air quality monitors show Eugene-Springfield as in the healthy range. How can that be?
Jo Niehaus, LRAPA public affairs, tells EW that, “Yes, the monitors are reading a cleaner air quality index (AQI) than what people expect when they see all the smoke and haze in the air.”
But Niehaus says, “The upper atmosphere haze and smoke starts between 3000 – 5000 feet in the air, which doesn’t get picked up by our air monitors at the ground level.
She says that luckily, that higher altitude smoke has not settled back into the valley and that at the ground level the area is getting some winds from the West, helping to clear the air.
As long as the winds continue, she says that “people can expect to see some fairly good air quality in the metro area this weekend.”
“However, ” Niehaus warns, “with it being wildfire season, it won’t be long before we get some more intrusions — especially if the upper level particulates start to settle.”
She says LRAPA always encourages people to check outside and check the air quality on the LRAPA website or Oregon Department of Environmental Quality website before any rigorous outdoor activities during the wildfire season.
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519
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