Wildfire smoke in Bend

Will it be smoky in Bend?

It’s a fact: wildfires around the West are increasingly more common and burn hotter and longer than nature really intended. It’s also true that fire has played a critical, natural role in keeping the forests surrounding Bend healthy for as long as we’ve had trees. The downside? Wildfires even hundreds of miles away can make for smoky moments. 

When that happens, it’s important to understand that not everywhere, every hour will be smoky. Winds shift. The warm, afternoon sun can clear the thick morning air. So be flexible, check air quality maps, and have a back up plan to go with your normal plans for when the air does clear. With a world class museum, scores of top-notch craft breweries, and a myriad of ways to find and play under the blue skies that make Bend so different from much of Oregon, it’s hard to be bored on even the smokiest of days. 

Here is what you need to know about smoke season in Bend, where your Plan B is probably better than a Plan A anywhere else.

How smoky will it be in Bend?

No one can tell you which days will be smoky and which ones won’t, but the website PurpleAir is an excellent resource for giving you real-time smoke conditions in specific areas thanks to a robust network of air-quality sensors. The Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map for Oregon is also useful for giving you up-to-date information as well as historical data over the past year. Be forewarned: Asking your smartphone or other home smart device (like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Nest, etc.) for air-quality information about Bend can be misleading, as those services often use regional averages and not site-specific data. For information on where fires are burning and their size, Watch Duty is the go-to app with alerts and updates. 

How does smoke behave in Bend?

Areas affected by wildfire smoke depends on several key factors:

• Wind direction and speed: Generally speaking, in summer, wind tends to be westerly in Bend. Find wind forecasts here.
• Atmospheric stability: An “unstable” atmosphere, where warm air rises quickly into the sky (often leading to storms), allows smoke to disperse more easily and creates better air quality. A “stable” atmosphere, where warm air does not rise as quickly, can act like a lid, trapping smoke closer to the ground. Find weather information here.
• Topography: Smoke can get trapped in valleys or be channeled through passes. Bend’s rather open topography, situated in a high-desert environment, often won’t trap smoke in the same way a valley would.
• Time of day: Overnight, cooler temperatures often lead to more stable atmospheric conditions with minimal air flow, which lets smoke settle into low-lying areas. As the sun rises and heats the ground, the atmosphere becomes more unstable, allowing smoke to lift.

What to do when it’s smoky

Be patient. Mornings are more likely to be smokier than evenings. Use that time to check out a museum, learn to drift (or just race) a go-kart at K1 Speed, or take a trip down nostalgia lane at the very last Blockbuster in the world, right here in Bend. You’ll find games for the whole family (think ping pong and air hockey) at Rally Recreation. We have two trampoline parks, Trampoline Zone and Mountain Air. Downtown, play some vintage arcade games at Vector Volcano.

You can always tick off a few more stops along the Bend Ale Trail, take a scenic drive along a gorgeous byway, make a run for Crater Lake National Park or Newberry National Volcanic Monument. For ideas on indoor fun go here.

Throughout your day, watch PurpleAir for those precious green (clean air) circles and head out. Often, the air quality can vary wildly over short distances. And please, as always, respect the fire bans.