Something in the air

Can you tell the difference between the two photos in this post? They both show the road in front of my car (picture taken through my dirty windshield) in the hazy north Whatcom County countryside.

In this one, taken August 21st, the haze comes from smoke from wildfires in British Columbia:

Air quality: Unhealthy, perhaps even hazardous

In this one, taken August 25th, the haze comes from clouds, mist, and rain:

Air quality: good

They may look alike in photos, but what a huge difference in the experience.

For weeks, it seems like, we had hot, dry weather with smoke drifting and blowing into Northwest Washington from fires in B.C. My sister was visiting and as we drove through the county I said, "If this were mist and rain, it would be just the kind of day I like." The smoke gave a weird cast of light to everything and induced headaches. Public notices kept increasing about the bad air quality and what do in response (stay inside, close the windows, run air conditioning on recirculate, get a HEPA quality air filter). Yuck.

Finally, late last week, the wind shifted so that it was blowing in from the ocean, pushing the smoke away from us. Then yesterday, O frabjous day, it rained. It was even chilly! What a relief. Today it's still rainy, cloudy, and cool. Yay.