Anyone noticing smoke ?

[SempreMare]

Anyone noticing smoke?  

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/alaska/articles/2019-06-24/wildfire-smoke-delays-traffic-on-popular-highway-in-alaska

Was checking the marine forecast and saw something I hadn't seen yet this summer:   "Areas of smoke."

 

I'm really hoping smoke will be gone by the time I"m there in August.  ... And added my asthma inhaler to the must-pack list.  Have not needed it in 20 years except when on my past 2 vacations in the pacific northwest when there was significant smoke.  

 

The Alaska official government Air Quality map doesn't look too bad.

http://dec.alaska.gov/Applications/Air/airtoolsweb/Aq/

Alaska Wildland Fire Information

https://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=32ec4f34fb234ce58df6b1222a207ef1

 

 

[masterdrago]

My guess is that rains between now and your trip will clean the air :=]

[cruisin'mama]

I have read that they do not expect containment until 8/12. We arrive 8/15 and will be in the area of the fire 8/19.  Hopefully they get some good rains soon to help and that there is no loss of life to the firefighters fighting this inferno!  Living in So Calif,  I know how devastating wildfires can be!

[AKStafford]

Its a big state... You'll be fine in Southeast Alaska, unless they get a fire there.

I'm in the MatSu Valley. We have a smoky haze here. It's worse in Anchorage. And of course a lot worse on the Peninsula.

[prish]

On 6/27/2019 at 12:41 PM, AKStafford said:

Its a big state... You'll be fine in Southeast Alaska, unless they get a fire there.

I'm in the MatSu Valley. We have a smoky haze here. It's worse in Anchorage. And of course a lot worse on the Peninsula.

 

Any update on the fires? We fly into Anchorage on July 3 and go to Denali for 3 days. Then Girdwood and Seward for two nights July 8-12, when we board the Millennium. Fingers crossed the smoke isn’t too bad when we’re there...

[diesel1973]

Am in Eagle River now and it's not bad at all. Anchorage is getting more smoke but that also varies with the wind direction. Seward and Girdwood should be OK unless something drastically changes(hope not). Wouldn't plan on a trip to Homer.

[SempreMare]

Seward looks smokey...   

- Top pic is a live webcam pic of the "Seward Small Boat Harbour"

- Below the big live pic on the left, click on the other thumbnail to see a live pic of "Fox Island in Resurrection Bay"

 

https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/webcam/#/0

 

[Northern Aurora]

We are getting significant smoke in Fairbanks as we have a number of fires in the Interior.  They are started by lightening strikes.  We are in the mid-80s today with higher temps forecast tomorrow so again a good change of lightening strikes.  And one or two rains won't make much of a difference -- we are so dry that a day or so after a good rain the fires will flare back up.

 

We were down at Denali for a few days and drove back yesterday.  Wednesday evening smoke was blowing in. The drive back to Fairbanks was smokey.  In Rose's Cafe yesterday morning we spoke to a guy who lives in Cantwell and had driven to Healy that morning; he reported smoke in Cantwell and all along the drive north.

[prish]

Thanks for the updates, am watching the situation and hoping it won’t get worse. We’re staying at Healy for three nights when visiting Denali, then driving down to Girdwood and Seward.

[quack2]

17 hours ago, SempreMare said:

Seward looks smokey...   

- Top pic is a live webcam pic of the "Seward Small Boat Harbour"

- Below the big live pic on the left, click on the other thumbnail to see a live pic of "Fox Island in Resurrection Bay"

 

https://www.alaskacollection.com/day-tours/kenai-fjords-tours/webcam/#/0

 

That's really ugly.  Seward is usually so beautiful.

 

[SempreMare]

Any feedback from cruisers in Seward today? 

 

Can you smell the smoke?  How badly is it affecting your visibility?  (driving, distance, etc.) 

[bottom-dragger]

 

noon today in Petersburg (half way between juneau and ketchican).

[martincath]

Skagway we definitely noticed a haze, which lifted some by afternoon - guide said that at times recently the nearest mountains were invisible from downtown it was so bad, but fires have moved/been put out/winds shifted to reduce the effect. I didn't taste any smoke in the air or have any problems breathing (both have happened in downtown Vancouver in the last couple of years) so things are certainly much less bad than in prior 'fire seasons.'

[SeahawkSiren]

We just returned from a 7 day DIY land trip in Alaska (included Fairbanks, Healy, Denali, Anchorage and Seward) and there was smoke/haze every day at every location.  Luckily the 2 days in Denali we had very nice weather and had AWESOME views of Denali despite the smoke.  The section of the drive from Healy/Denali to Anchorage was the worst.  The smoke was less of an issue between Anchorage and Seward.  We were there from July 4 to 11.

 

I was going to post a review of this DIY land trip but wasn't sure it would be allowed since it did not include a cruise (we have done 3 Alaska cruises but this was specifically a road trip).  I have awesome photos from Denali (we did the entire 184 mile round trip bus tour) and Kenai Fjords National Park where we did an 8.5 hour boat excursion.

[katrina915]

I was in Girdwood area today. Smoke not an issue. 65 with light rain. Going to Denali tomorrow.  Will report back on that area in a few days.

[Roo]

23 hours ago, SeahawkSiren said:

We just returned from a 7 day DIY land trip in Alaska (included Fairbanks, Healy, Denali, Anchorage and Seward) and there was smoke/haze every day at every location.  Luckily the 2 days in Denali we had very nice weather and had AWESOME views of Denali despite the smoke.  The section of the drive from Healy/Denali to Anchorage was the worst.  The smoke was less of an issue between Anchorage and Seward.  We were there from July 4 to 11.

 

I was going to post a review of this DIY land trip but wasn't sure it would be allowed since it did not include a cruise (we have done 3 Alaska cruises but this was specifically a road trip).  I have awesome photos from Denali (we did the entire 184 mile round trip bus tour) and Kenai Fjords National Park where we did an 8.5 hour boat excursion.

 

I would welcome your land review!  If the monitors think it inappropriate they'll let you know!  Hope you had a good time, we leave in a few days.

 

[SoBaycruiser]

Things are improving from earlier in the week.  See smoke map HERE.

[katrina915]

In Denali and Healy today. Smoke not an issue.  

[Northern Aurora]

Fairbanks had some rain on  Friday, and then again overnight.  Yesterday was wonderful -- we could see blue skies!  A little haze today, but we were outside attending a double-header baseball game and I wore my contact lenses on the entire time.  Whether I can wear my contacts is my personal "smoke monitor."

[oaktreerb]

On 7/13/2019 at 2:14 PM, SeahawkSiren said:

We just returned from a 7 day DIY land trip in Alaska (included Fairbanks, Healy, Denali, Anchorage and Seward) and there was smoke/haze every day at every location.  Luckily the 2 days in Denali we had very nice weather and had AWESOME views of Denali despite the smoke.  The section of the drive from Healy/Denali to Anchorage was the worst.  The smoke was less of an issue between Anchorage and Seward.  We were there from July 4 to 11.

 

I was going to post a review of this DIY land trip but wasn't sure it would be allowed since it did not include a cruise (we have done 3 Alaska cruises but this was specifically a road trip).  I have awesome photos from Denali (we did the entire 184 mile round trip bus tour) and Kenai Fjords National Park where we did an 8.5 hour boat excursion.

Post it.  Lots of people do DIY as part of the total cruise vacation experience and I’m sure they would enjoy hearing about your land trip.

[SoBaycruiser]

18 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Fairbanks had some rain on  Friday, and then again overnight.  Yesterday was wonderful -- we could see blue skies!  A little haze today, but we were outside attending a double-header baseball game and I wore my contact lenses on the entire time.  Whether I can wear my contacts is my personal "smoke monitor."

Northern Aurora,

 

Are your usual summer rains in Fairbanks grey cloudy skies all day with some precipitation or showers that come in and go with some possible sun.  Looking at Accuweather’s long range August predictions show a lot of rain predicted.  I know that’s probably good for the state, but not so much for travel.  Is Denali similar to Fairbanks?

[Northern Aurora]

12 minutes ago, SoBaycruiser said:

Northern Aurora,

 

Are your usual summer rains in Fairbanks grey cloudy skies all day with some precipitation or showers that come in and go with some possible sun.  Looking at Accuweather’s long range August predictions show a lot of rain predicted.  I know that’s probably good for the state, but not so much for travel.  Is Denali similar to Fairbanks?

  

 

Fairbanks weather surprises a number of our visitors.  Despite the fact that we are so far north we get surprisingly warm during the summer, and it frequently feels warmer than it actually is.  UAF science writer Ned Rozell did an interesting column several years ago about why it often feels warmer than it actually is, and I wish I had saved it.

 

Our typical pattern is to have a very nice morning and afternoon, with thunderclouds starting to form around 5 PM or so.  Sometimes we can get brief heavy rain from those thunderclouds, but not always.  Once it rains the skies clear.  Periodically we can have a low pressure system (with rain) come over us, and have rain all day, but the Alaska Range to the south and the Brooks Range to the north tend to act as "fences" keeping those low pressures off of us here in the Interior.  But low pressure systems from the Bering Sea certainly can come our way.  It is my understanding that meteorologists consider the Bering Sea to be a "weather maker."

 

The Accuweather's forecasts are rarely very accurate for Fairbanks much farther out than a day or so.  And our weather of the day here in Fairbanks is generally very different than what Denali will have on any particular day as Denali itself is so high the mountain has some influence on local conditions.

 

Folks often ask why the number of forest fires.  Almost all of them in the Interior are started by lightening strikes from those thunderstorms.  I haven't checked what our official high temp has been so far today, but as I type this response our home thermometer is reading 80F.  Thunderstorms are forecast to form this evening with the potential for lightening strikes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SoBaycruiser]

Thank you so much!  I love your very complete answer.  I don’t find Accuweather very accurate for my home locale either... but it’s the only one I can find that predicts further out than about 10 days.

 

[AkSusan]

Smoke has been an issue again this week in Anchorage.  Was really bad earlier in the week, and, I thought it was the Swan Lake fire (which is on the Kenai Peninsula), but, no, it was a fire north in the Glenallen area!  Then, the wind shifted and that smoke blew out, but, Swan Lake smoke then blew in.

 

At times, you can't even see the mountains that surround town, and, can actually see it laying in the air, in my cul du sac!  

 

Gets hard that we've had extreme temperatures, and, can't open your windows, because, the air all smells like one big campfire!

 

Susan in Anchorage 🙂

[milolii]

On 7/13/2019 at 2:14 PM, SeahawkSiren said:

We just returned from a 7 day DIY land trip in Alaska (included Fairbanks, Healy, Denali, Anchorage and Seward) and there was smoke/haze every day at every location.  Luckily the 2 days in Denali we had very nice weather and had AWESOME views of Denali despite the smoke.  The section of the drive from Healy/Denali to Anchorage was the worst.  The smoke was less of an issue between Anchorage and Seward.  We were there from July 4 to 11.

 

I was going to post a review of this DIY land trip but wasn't sure it would be allowed since it did not include a cruise (we have done 3 Alaska cruises but this was specifically a road trip).  I have awesome photos from Denali (we did the entire 184 mile round trip bus tour) and Kenai Fjords National Park where we did an 8.5 hour boat excursion.

Several years ago I wrote a trip report of 5 days on London befits a MED cruise. I posted it on the  British Isles Boards.  I received question for several months after.  

 

I would  start a new a new thread though.  Sounds like many folks are interested.