Air quality is classified as good Monday morning and visibility improved in cities along Interstate 84 and throughout the Willamette Valley after smoke from numerous fires funneled down the Columbia River Gorge.
The smoke moved in quickly. Satellite imagery from MODIS shows that it took about 24 hours for Oregon and Washington to be completely covered.
According to the Pacific Northwest Wildfire Coordinating Group, wildfire operations have been active for the past 67 days, with 43 fires currently burning across Oregon and Washington.
Cooler temperatures and reduced winds helped firefighters Saturday battling a large wildfire in Oregon south of the towns of John Day and Canyon City.
Fire officials expect wind to pick up Sunday, but since winds were expected to blow out of the southeast, they will send the fire back into an area that has already burned.
To the northeast, fire fighters also made progress Saturday on the Grizzly Bear Complex of fires in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington.
Pacific Northwesterners haven't experienced this level of fire activity since 2007.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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USDA Forest Service
/Wildfire smoke covers much of Oregon and Washington Saturday at 3:25 p.m. Pacific Time.
USDA Forest Service
/Oregon and Washington skies were clear Friday at 2:19 p.m. Pacific Time. In 24 hours, wildfire smoke enveloped much of the Pacific Northwest.
