SPOKANE, Wash.– Stagnant conditions that have kept Spokane stuck in the fog since Wednesday night are also lowering the air quality.
Calm weather and almost no wind over the past couple of days allowed cool, moist air to sink into mountain valleys, where it is now trapped under warmer air. This is called an inversion. Mountaintops above the inversion enjoyed a nice sunrise on Friday morning, while the valleys remained stuck under clouds and fog.
Along with the clouds and fog, pollutants from cars, homes, factories, and wildfire mitigation projects around the Inland Northwest are also trapped under the inversion. Air quality is down to the Moderate region-wide on Friday morning, but had dropped to Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups in Spokane, Moscow, Potlatch, and Sandpoint overnight.
Click or tap here to see air quality in your community.
Air quality is unlikely to improve until winds and rain arrive on Saturday. This will begin the vertical mixing of the atmosphere that will break up the inversions.
Click or tap here for the latest First Alert Forecast.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
