So like....west coast/mountain region folks who deal with this on the regular....how much reaction is an overreaction? Hold our little east coast hands?
@@@ We're supposed to go camping with an organized group that includes kids this weekend. Emails flying among the leadership (which includes my H) right now deciding what to do. We'd be spending a good chunk of the weekend sititng aorund a campfire anyway, but like....taking shorties hiking in this, sleeping in this...is...not good? right?? we cancel? there's no rescheduling so it's just not happening if it doesn't happen this weekend, and it's kind of a big "end of year" event, so some folks are really reluctant to cancel, but others think we kinda have to. I keep looking outside at the apocalypse movie filter that's been laid over DC and don't see how we tell people we're spending the weekend outside. But it might rain friday night?
Olympic Mountain side of Seattle over here and we don't hike or camp during smoky times. My family is in NYC and if we had the conditions they're describing, I wouldn't be going. It's super unpleasant to be out and about in it, period, let alone trying to be active.
Post by goldengirlz on Jun 8, 2023 10:35:36 GMT -5
Does anyone know if it’s possible to track containment percentage of the fires? Do Canadian provinces update public maps like the ones we have for California?
Post by basilosaurus on Jun 8, 2023 11:55:28 GMT -5
This is the site I used in a very smoky, often the worst, part of the world. I don't know how it stacks up to others mentioned, but I'm guessing it's better than accuweather since there are so many stations. I put in DC just because a few have mentioned it. aqicn.org/station/@203002
Very few of us had a/c at all, let alone central. Certainly no furnace. So, there were regular posts on the local board on air purifiers (not niche there, pixy!) Plus, people would share which coffee shops, restaurants, workspaces had the best filtering, so you might try asking around if you have local groups. Places would promote their businesses based on filtration. Although smoky season is over and the city is at a relative good 80 rn, I'm sure I can ask if anyone has specific q's about filters. They're really responsive.
N95s whenever outside for those months. They help, but avoidance is best. My eyes burned too much once it hit a certain level.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to track containment percentage of the fires? Do Canadian provinces update public maps like the ones we have for California?
I did a search and came up empty.
I’ve only seen details for the fires very local to me in Eastern Ontario. I don’t think there is a centralized database. Details for local fires have come from the news.
So like....west coast/mountain region folks who deal with this on the regular....how much reaction is an overreaction? Hold our little east coast hands?
@@@ We're supposed to go camping with an organized group that includes kids this weekend. Emails flying among the leadership (which includes my H) right now deciding what to do. We'd be spending a good chunk of the weekend sititng aorund a campfire anyway, but like....taking shorties hiking in this, sleeping in this...is...not good? right?? we cancel? there's no rescheduling so it's just not happening if it doesn't happen this weekend, and it's kind of a big "end of year" event, so some folks are really reluctant to cancel, but others think we kinda have to. I keep looking outside at the apocalypse movie filter that's been laid over DC and don't see how we tell people we're spending the weekend outside. But it might rain friday night?
Oregonian here! I wouldn't camp in anything over 150. I don't even take my dog out for a walk once it gets that high. My eyes start to burn and I get a headache.
I'm amazed you can even have a campfire. We're under a burn ban most of the summer and fall!
Post by basilosaurus on Jun 8, 2023 12:36:34 GMT -5
Oh, definite no to not just hiking but spending the night outdoors at those levels, even if it rains. Relief might be only temporary. And they're shorties. My eyes and throat burn, and I develop a cough with over an hour exposure. And I have adult lungs with zero lung issues.
So like....west coast/mountain region folks who deal with this on the regular....how much reaction is an overreaction? Hold our little east coast hands?
@@@ We're supposed to go camping with an organized group that includes kids this weekend. Emails flying among the leadership (which includes my H) right now deciding what to do. We'd be spending a good chunk of the weekend sititng aorund a campfire anyway, but like....taking shorties hiking in this, sleeping in this...is...not good? right?? we cancel? there's no rescheduling so it's just not happening if it doesn't happen this weekend, and it's kind of a big "end of year" event, so some folks are really reluctant to cancel, but others think we kinda have to. I keep looking outside at the apocalypse movie filter that's been laid over DC and don't see how we tell people we're spending the weekend outside. But it might rain friday night?
We’ve been hovering in the 160s-180s all day here and there is no way I would risk camping unless it goes down a lot by tomorrow. I only had my dog out long enough to use the bathroom and ended up with a headache from it.
Post by dancingirl21 on Jun 8, 2023 14:00:47 GMT -5
This is all really horrible. Admittedly, I also didn’t know it is like this 6 months out of the year in the west. I remember a couple of years ago when a college roommate sent me a text from where she lives in San Francisco. The sky was so hazy and orange, it was one of the most bizarre things I have seen.
We are near Chicago and were under air quality alerts over the last week, but it seems better today.
We have a trip planned to DC, leaving in 2 weeks. This was definitely not on my bingo card of things I will have to watch prior to us going! I think we can cancel the hotel until 3 days before, but hoping for relief for all of you much sooner!
This is all really horrible. Admittedly, I also didn’t know it was like this 6 months out of the year in the west. I remember a couple of years ago when a college roommate sent me a text from where she lives in San Francisco. The sky was so hazy and orange, it was one of the most bizarre things I have seen.
We are near Chicago and were under air quality alerts over the last week, but it seems better today.
We have a trip planned to DC, leaving in 2 weeks. This was definitely not on my bingo card of things I will have to watch prior to us going! I think we can cancel the hotel until 3 days before, but hoping for relief for all of you much sooner!
Ok I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that didn’t know the west suffers this half the year. Ugh
So like....west coast/mountain region folks who deal with this on the regular....how much reaction is an overreaction? Hold our little east coast hands?
@@@ We're supposed to go camping with an organized group that includes kids this weekend. Emails flying among the leadership (which includes my H) right now deciding what to do. We'd be spending a good chunk of the weekend sititng aorund a campfire anyway, but like....taking shorties hiking in this, sleeping in this...is...not good? right?? we cancel? there's no rescheduling so it's just not happening if it doesn't happen this weekend, and it's kind of a big "end of year" event, so some folks are really reluctant to cancel, but others think we kinda have to. I keep looking outside at the apocalypse movie filter that's been laid over DC and don't see how we tell people we're spending the weekend outside. But it might rain friday night?
We’ve been hovering in the 160s-180s all day here and there is no way I would risk camping unless it goes down a lot by tomorrow. I only had my dog out long enough to use the bathroom and ended up with a headache from it.
what's frustrating is that we really need to make the call today. ughhhhhhh. I think it's getting cancelled. I have three gallons of chili in my fridge for this!!
We’ve been hovering in the 160s-180s all day here and there is no way I would risk camping unless it goes down a lot by tomorrow. I only had my dog out long enough to use the bathroom and ended up with a headache from it.
what's frustrating is that we really need to make the call today. ughhhhhhh. I think it's getting cancelled. I have three gallons of chili in my fridge for this!!
Ugh! I’m so sorry, that really sucks! I think it’s supposed to get better by tomorrow night, but that may be up by me in jersey, not sure what it’s doing by you.
This is all really horrible. Admittedly, I also didn’t know it was like this 6 months out of the year in the west. I remember a couple of years ago when a college roommate sent me a text from where she lives in San Francisco. The sky was so hazy and orange, it was one of the most bizarre things I have seen.
We are near Chicago and were under air quality alerts over the last week, but it seems better today.
We have a trip planned to DC, leaving in 2 weeks. This was definitely not on my bingo card of things I will have to watch prior to us going! I think we can cancel the hotel until 3 days before, but hoping for relief for all of you much sooner!
Ok I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that didn’t know the west suffers this half the year. Ugh
In Washington (at least Western Washington) we don't get this half a year. On average we get smoke on and off for one or two months in the late summer/early fall. I haven't seen a data summary for 2022, but in 2020 and 2021 80%+ of the days were "good" air quality. And another 15% were moderate. So just a handful or so in the unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse.
We’ve been hovering in the 160s-180s all day here and there is no way I would risk camping unless it goes down a lot by tomorrow. I only had my dog out long enough to use the bathroom and ended up with a headache from it.
what's frustrating is that we really need to make the call today. ughhhhhhh. I think it's getting cancelled. I have three gallons of chili in my fridge for this!!
Why can't you have a party that includes the camp people? Meet at a park, consume some food, and then everyone go home. You'd still be outside a bit, but it wouldn't be overnight.
Ok I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that didn’t know the west suffers this half the year. Ugh
In Washington (at least Western Washington) we don't get this half a year. On average we get smoke on and off for one or two months in the late summer/early fall. I haven't seen a data summary for 2022, but in 2020 and 2021 80%+ of the days were "good" air quality. And another 15% were moderate. So just a few in the unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse.
Does anyone know if it’s possible to track containment percentage of the fires? Do Canadian provinces update public maps like the ones we have for California?
The cleanest cities list seems to support my brother's constant nagging that I move to Oahu. No wonder I never have any issues with my asthma when I am there. (My allergies are also fine, but I'm allergic to our indigenous plants here.)
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This is all really horrible. Admittedly, I also didn’t know it was like this 6 months out of the year in the west. I remember a couple of years ago when a college roommate sent me a text from where she lives in San Francisco. The sky was so hazy and orange, it was one of the most bizarre things I have seen.
We are near Chicago and were under air quality alerts over the last week, but it seems better today.
We have a trip planned to DC, leaving in 2 weeks. This was definitely not on my bingo card of things I will have to watch prior to us going! I think we can cancel the hotel until 3 days before, but hoping for relief for all of you much sooner!
Ok I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that didn’t know the west suffers this half the year. Ugh
At least in California, the risk is present about six months of the year (because we have wet/dry seasons) but we don’t suffer anywhere close to that long. Peak wildfire risk is usually July-October, but we could conceivably get them from May-November (I guess we also could conceivably get them year-round, with climate change and dryer wet seasons).
We were lucky the last two years. OTOH, 2017, 2018 and 2020 were BRUTAL. Bad air for weeks and weeks without a break.
This is all really horrible. Admittedly, I also didn’t know it is like this 6 months out of the year in the west. I remember a couple of years ago when a college roommate sent me a text from where she lives in San Francisco. The sky was so hazy and orange, it was one of the most bizarre things I have seen.
We are near Chicago and were under air quality alerts over the last week, but it seems better today.
We have a trip planned to DC, leaving in 2 weeks. This was definitely not on my bingo card of things I will have to watch prior to us going! I think we can cancel the hotel until 3 days before, but hoping for relief for all of you much sooner!
What do I know, but I think you'll be fine. I haven't heard anything locally about expecting this to last weeks. It sounds like we'll likely be fine to be outdoors even as soon as sometime this weekend. Of course that isn't to say it couldn't change again, but I wouldn't worry about your trip at this point.
I have a lot of outdoor stuff planned in the coming weeks (like everyone else this time of year) and certainly hope none of it will have to be cancelled!
We’re in DC for vacation—arrived yesterday— and I forgot to pack masks. Fortunately a nice lady at CVS gave us a few good ones, since I they didn’t sell them. The smell was like walking around a campfire, but the masks definitely helped.
OMG my eye. Is there anything to be done about the eyes? I was wearing an KN95 outside today, but that didn’t help me eye, and neither did my glasses. We were in Tahoe one summer a few years ago and there were fires nearby. That was my first experience with it, and the same thing with my eye. They burn so bad.
wawa - I have some friends planning a “camping” trip this week (really, just in the yard of some else with 2 acres, just a trial run for reasons). Texts were flying around today about canceling, but toward the end of the day, they were looking at the predictions that it would be OK-ish by Saturday. But, that has just a handful of friends in a yard, not 3 gallons of chili planning. Good luck!
OMG my eye. Is there anything to be done about the eyes? I was wearing an KN95 outside today, but that didn’t help me eye, and neither did my glasses. We were in Tahoe one summer a few years ago and there were fires nearby. That was my first experience with it, and the same thing with my eye. They burn so bad.
googles. Swim or desert goggles. DH says his rigid contacts help.
But the main thing is prevention. This isn’t something to ‘get used to’ or ‘tough out.’ This shit builds up - In your lungs, your eyes, your pores, and elsewhere. And it isn’t just wood smoke. Every building that burns is sending up metals, toxins. Asbestos, whatever. One day of misjudging things means weeks of coughing and breathing trouble for me.
No way I’d be camping. Even if it drops to zero tomorrow who knows what will happen while you are out there overnight. Invite everyone over for a chili dinner.
And while fire risk season lasts months, the smoke is usually 1-3 weeks at a stint. Not 6 months. And usually you can drive to a better patch for a day off if you are determined. 2020 was the year the smoke went up, out to the pacific, and came back with a vengeance really covering everywhere like is happening out east now. That was hard to escape.
I'm just catching up on the press conference today from British Columbia Wildfire Service. So far this year 500,000+ hectares have burned in BC. To give you perspective, "B.C.'s three worst fire seasons – 2017, 2018 and 2021 – had just 997 ha., 27,029 ha. and 2,213 ha. burned at this point in the year, respectively." That is an absolutely staggering difference.
I'm just catching up on the press conference today from British Columbia Wildfire Service. So far this year 500,000+ hectares have burned in BC. To give you perspective, "B.C.'s three worst fire seasons – 2017, 2018 and 2021 – had just 997 ha., 27,029 ha. and 2,213 ha. burned at this point in the year, respectively." That is an absolutely staggering difference.
That is horrifying. I saw the campfire ban for most of BC came into place yesterday so I knew the fires were bad. I didn’t realize it was that bad. There’s a main highway to part of the island cut off already from fires. This is going to be a very hard summer for the interior again.
what's frustrating is that we really need to make the call today. ughhhhhhh. I think it's getting cancelled. I have three gallons of chili in my fridge for this!!
Why can't you have a party that includes the camp people? Meet at a park, consume some food, and then everyone go home. You'd still be outside a bit, but it wouldn't be overnight.
that's already happening. it's a camping trip, and then sunday afternoon is a picnic where the whole group, not just the folks camping come meet us at the park. the chili was for saturday dinner, there's other food ALSO already purchased for the sunday event, which as of right now is still on. It's just....a lot of food. there's also a box of bananas and clementines. 3 dozen eggs. Soem of it we'll re-purpose for Sunday. It's not actually that big of a deal, obviously we'll figure something out - I'm just whining because UGH.
Post by basilosaurus on Jun 9, 2023 4:48:34 GMT -5
Scouts are supposed to be about service, right? Replace the camping with serving your chili and extra food at a shelter or soup kitchen if they allow home cooked food.
There's not much to be done for eyes other than avoidance. I guess if you absolutely had to be out goggles would work.
How long do you think it will be until everyone starts shaming each other on social media over this?
In what way?
Not that I do much on SM but I can see why people would judge others when they were out partying during lockdown. But being out and doing things in this situation doesn't hurt other people, only possibly yourself.
wawa, it's the rightcall. We weren't even at "dangerous" levels here in NC yesterday, so I thought it would be okay to go running early and then pretty much spend from 3:00 - 8:00 pm outside, including a short hike. I was in bed by 8:30, just completely exhausted. I then proceeded to have completely weird-ass dreams all night long. I couldn't imagine camping in this weather, let alone worse weather.
How long do you think it will be until everyone starts shaming each other on social media over this?
people can be assholes about anything, I guess, but I don’t remember seeing shaming around this in the past.
There is a learning curve for this while people figure out what their particular life needs in terms of supples and mentally adapt to the losses. (Smoke has cancelled birthday parties and other things for my kids and it’s such a kick in the teeth. I empathize with all of you having to cancel anticipated year end activities).
The only thing I've ever seen people shame other people about is having a camp fire during a fire ban. A lot of times that includes backyard fires in town. People will call the fire department on their own beloved mothers at that point. Lol!