http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/trafficale ... 1440161527
I thought the news last night said Hwy 20 was now open, but DOT website says otherwise. Twisp to Newalem is a lot of road to close, even Winthrop shut down? Wow!

I got to Newhalem shortly after they closed the road. There is no way it is opening real soon. Smoke was towering over Newhalem, you could tell from about a half mile away the fire was very close to Hwy 20. One of the rangers described the fire as a "rock slide of fire." Apparently the fire caused a rock slide that went down onto the highway.

http://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel ... ls-resort/

update

It's so smokey here in Lynnwood that I plan on staying in doors tomorrow. Even going for a swim is breathing in a bit of smoke. I really hope the rain returns.

So sad. We're feeling the effects as far away as SW Colorado. Super hazy here from the N Cascade fires. We're thinking about you and sending positive vibes! Pray for rain..... Best of luck to you, be safe out there.

I went for a climb in the Stuart Range over the weekend and I am now sick!

The Washington fires now made the frontpage of Wikipedia. I'm glad that it's finally safe to go outside .It was getting so bad that about a quarter mile down the street was becoming faded, and visibility was completely lost after a few miles. Finding an appropriate climb these days is much trickier than usual. The eastern part of the state is completely out (from a safety point of view) and the "mini fires" on the west are really not helping.



"As a result of the wildfires, air quality across the state and into Canada dropped to unhealthy levels in many cities and led to the issuing of several air quality alerts by the U.S. National Weather Service and Environment Canada... Environment Canada had posted an Air Quality Health Index alert for cities as far away as Calgary, Alberta with a score of 11 on a scale of one to 10-plus with 10 as “very high risk.” The Canadian Air Quality Health Index is based on measurements of "ozone at ground level, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide." By Wednesday the third day of the thick haze of smoke, air quality in Calgary scored 16 on the Government of Alberta’s Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), a very high health risk."

- 2015 Washington state wildfires

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4548/

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/photographs/4548/

Never saw this site before... anyway, looks like closed for some time to come. Web cam from Newhalem is not good, wonder how much smoke at Washington Pass if you came in from Wenatchee? too far for me, but anyone been up there?

Open again 8/30/15

I'm curious what this will do to the southern Pickets approach.

seano wrote:I'm curious what this will do to the southern Pickets approach.

Me too. Was just looking this over about an hour ago. The heavy rain is sweeping through, hoping it clears the west side fires.