r/Portland • u/colfitsky Creston-Kenilworth • 1d ago

Photo/Video Scheduled autumn programming has continued

Post image

It smells strongly outside. I thought the AQI would be 150+!

95 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

39

u/Moist-Consequence 1d ago

The 2” of scheduled rain this week should help immensely

3

u/Atarihouse 21h ago

I don’t think “scheduled” is the word you want, but apt username!

1

u/TheGruntingGoat Rubble of The Big One 9h ago

lol yeah. Nothing in meteorology is “scheduled.” The earth’s weather system is so complex if you ever go down the rabbit hole of trying to learn meteorology. It’s amazing anyone can predict weather correctly at all when you realize how complex it is!

1

u/Moist-Consequence 8h ago

No no, I’ve got it covered, don’t worry about it

20

u/Significant_Sort7501 1d ago

Looks like it is above 150 once you get past Tigard and Oregon City

2

u/smootex High Bonafides 1d ago

Yeah it was pretty bad when I was in the area today. Worse in Salem but I guess it's moved north since then.

8

u/Zazadawg St Johns 1d ago

I’m in Oregon city at work and I didn’t even realize it blow in! AQI is 250 down here

8

u/SpiralingCat 1d ago

It’s really bad in Tigard/LO area rn

7

u/Dull-Evidence3436 1d ago

It’s horrid here downtown. Went outside without checking and came back in immediately! Then came to check. Where is this coming from?

3

u/BertMacklin802 Richmond 1d ago

Austin Fire

2

u/DEEP_HURTING SW 1d ago

Yeah baby! 😤

2

u/NorthWestFresh 1d ago

Im downtown, its horrible right now wtf

1

u/Dull-Evidence3436 1d ago

Yes, good idea to get inside if you can!

4

u/smootex High Bonafides 1d ago

Driving through Salem today the smoke was awful. Was pleasantly surprised to get back home and see clear skies but I imagine that might not last given how close it all is.

9

u/Mackin-N-Cheese Boom Loop 1d ago

It's not autumn for three more weeks.

9

u/m33j13s Mt Tabor 1d ago

astronomical autumn starts in three weeks, meterological autumn starts tomorrow

2

u/TheGruntingGoat Rubble of The Big One 9h ago

I’m rootin’ for meteorological autumn this year!

3

u/iminthemoodforlug Richmond 1d ago

Boooooo

3

u/carniehandz Richmond 1d ago

Oof. I’ll be staying inside. Is this coming from the Narrows and Austin fires?

10

u/boo__radlib 1d ago

AQI is 49

14

u/colfitsky Creston-Kenilworth 1d ago

Indeed it is. I think it takes a little bit for the sensors to accumulate it, or the smell just doesn't reflect true AQI.

9

u/Significant_Sort7501 1d ago

It's the latter. I use Purple Air to check AQI and the sensors it pulls data from are updated every 2 minutes or something. 

5

u/This_Bethany 1d ago

I wish I had closed up my place when I just thought I smelled smoke. I checked the sensors and it looked fine. I should trust my nose because hours later the sensors did update.

3

u/UltraFinePointMarker 🍦 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah – at least what I'm smelling in NE Portland has a mechanical/industrial/plastic odor, which might not correspond exactly with the PM2.5 particles of standard AQIs.

Looking at Purple Air, something bad's going on in the Canby/Mollala/Estacada triangle & drifting our way. :/

4

u/Discard_Laundry1527 1d ago

As I understand it, smells are mostly from VOC's, not from PM (2.5 or otherwise). And some VOC's are definitely harmful.

I'd love for a subject matter expert to chime in, though!

6

u/RunWithBluntScissors 1d ago

I’m a chemist and it certainly smells like plasticizers / other VOCs out there, and yes, some VOCs are definitely harmful. Stay safe everyone! (Looking at you, weirdos who like running outside when the AQI is ridiculously high)

3

u/rosshettel 1d ago

There’s a wildfire there that’s been growing the past couple weeks

2

u/Electrical_Diet7038 1d ago

I was wondering about this too. Lots of smoke here and smells like it too. Wonder when AQI will get caught up?

2

u/captainfwiffo Pearl 1d ago

Last time it definitely seemed to lag the actual experience by at least a few hours, and that seems the case this time too. No idea why.

1

u/SwordOfJiang Tactical Weed Nuke 1d ago

200-250 now

1

u/ClaroStar 1d ago

I think it takes a little bit for the sensors to accumulate it

I doubt that.

2

u/Throwawayyy-7 1d ago

I think it’s more that the sensors are immediate, but airnow dot gov and the weather app take a long time to be accurate. Purpleair is the most accurate and for the southeast of the city it’s reading 200-300.

3

u/zscore95 1d ago

Looking out from my apartment in NE, downtown looks like a smoky hellish nightmare but the sky above my apartment is clear and blue. I’m looking W and SW and it looks bad. Also, out of nowhere? Just came on all of a sudden

3

u/kbrosnan 1d ago

More or less any hot day in the last month+ has been smokey due to the winds from the east. Looks like it has shifted back to winds from the coast so that should help clear things out over the next several hours.

4

u/slirkster 1d ago

I was just thinking yesterday that I was glad we had made it through wildfire season

14

u/YVR-n-PDX Sunnyside 1d ago

Why would you think that!

4

u/slirkster 1d ago

Wishful thinking I guess haha

2

u/keppapdx 1d ago

I think it’s from the Austin fire per a meteorologist I follow on FB, supposed to clear up tomorrow AM when the wind shifts.

1

u/Old-Energy6191 Sellwood-Moreland 1d ago

Did they say when in the AM?

-1

u/danj503 1d ago

When the WIND SHIFTS.

2

u/mcbacuma 1d ago

186 down south currently. I wasn’t expecting this. Didn’t see any news coverage this morning or from Mark

1

u/ContributionDue1637 23h ago

Watched him during the 9pm news, and again just now, and he barely mentioned it. Showed the footage of it increasingly getting worse in the early evening. About 10 seconds of coverage and I've never seen smoke this bad. I've never even seen fog this bad.