Haze over Snoqualmie Valley is smoke from Central Washington wildfires

Published 2:26 pm Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Dispatchers with the Washington Department of Natural Resources confirmed this afternoon that the smoky haze over Mount Si and east of North Bend is smoke from wildfires east of the Cascades.

DNR staff told the Record that easterly winds were behind the smoky pall that hung over parts of the Valley Wednesday, visible as a white smudge to the east.

Lightning storms on the weekend sparked dozens of fires in Central Washington, but none on this side of the cascades. Thirty-nine fire starts were reported Monday in the Kittitas and Yakima counties, according to the DNR website.

According to media reports, evacuation reports remained in effect for more than 100 homes in the Wenatchee area.