Conditions should improve both Monday and Tuesday afternoons
Ashland.news staff report
An air quality alert for much of Southern Oregon, including Ashland, was extended yet again by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Sunday afternoon. Wildfires burning in the region will continue to cause air quality levels to fluctuate into, at times, unhealthy levels.
While the DEQ cautions that the alert may be further extended beyond 5 p.m. Tuesday, it sounds an optimistic note in that wind patterns are expected to change Monday night, and the area of the alert may change.
A smoke forecast video posted by the Medford office of the National Weather Service shows smoke conditions in Ashland improving Monday afternoon with even more significant improvement Tuesday as prevailing winds blow smoke from the Smith River Complex and other fires more to the southeast, away from Ashland.
As of Sunday, the Smith River Complex Fire had burned 68,094 acres, mostly on the north side of Highway 199 between Grants Pass and Crescent City, which remains closed. The fire has crossed from its lightning-caused ignition location in California into Oregon southwest of Cave Junction.
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