If you were up early Thursday morning, you may have seen a deep orange or even red sunrise. That’s the effect of haze from wildfire smoke. KNKX called the Seattle Office of the National Weather Service to learn why that happens.
Science and operations meteorologist Kirby Cook said the higher concentrations of smoke in the current bout of haze are mostly staying high enough up in the sky that they’re away from the surface, where people breathe.
"So it's aloft. And that's, that's, you know, giving us the color, colorful sunsets and the hazy sky conditions, but not impacting air quality at this time," he said.
Cook said the particulate matter that causes poor air quality also makes the atmosphere more opaque. And that makes it refract the light differently, making it more vibrant, and bending yellows into oranges and reds.
“So it can contribute to you know, really pretty sunsets or a really pretty moon. But it can be a little strange," he said.
He said expect the strange colors to stick around at least through Friday – when smoke-free offshore flow from the Pacific Ocean could start pushing the haze into eastern Washington.
