Anchorage's air quality reports kept reading "good" over the weekend and into Monday, even as the Chugach Range faded to a milky gray, masked by smoke. Didn't look good, and it's hard to convince your lungs the air is good when it's hot, hazy and still.
If you thought the Anchorage Bowl got smokier Tuesday, you're right.
A high-pressure system is making our air stagnant. And it's causing smoke from fires west of Fairbanks to build up in Southcentral, says National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Brown.
By Tuesday, Anchorage's air quality hotline (343-4899) reported that the quality of the stuff we're breathing had dropped a level to "moderate." It scored 55 on the EPA air quality index, where 0-50 is good and 51-100 is moderate.
There's still no danger for anyone from breathing the air, says the city's air quality director, Steve Morris.
I believe him. But I suspect many Alaskans, like me, would welcome a brisk, cleansing rainstorm.
-- Rosemary Shinohara