National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Prolonged Atmospheric River in the Pacific Northwest; Snow and High Winds from the Upper Midwest into the Northeast

A prolonged atmospheric river will continue to impact the Pacific Northwest into the Northern Rockies with heavy rainfall, areas of urban and river flooding, landslides, heavy mountain snow, and gusty winds into Thursday. A strong clipper system will bring the threat of heavy snow and high winds across the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes as well as portions of the interior Northeast and Appalachians. Read More >

Smoke dispersal is categorized by using the Ventilation Rate. Ventilation Rate forecasts for a specific point can be found using the Fire Weather Dashboard. Click a spot on the map and scroll down to find daily and hourly Ventilation Rate values for the next few days.

 

Fire Weather Dashboard

 

The link above is configured to display smoke dispersal categories as shown here:

 

  Smoke Dispersal Vent. Rate, knot-feet (x1000)
     Excellent             150 or greater
     Very Good 100 to 149.99
     Good 60 to 99.99
     Fair 40 to 59.99
     Poor less than 40

 

Ventilation Rate = Transport Wind (kts) Mixing Height (ft)