It's smoky.

[LWolf]

My eyes are burning, my throat is raw, and I have friends and a former student fighting fires, here in Oregon and up in Washington. The Cascades are bare. We're supposed to be heading into another strong El Nino. I'm worried about our forests.

http://www.oregonlive.com/weather/index.ssf/2015/06/el_nino_effect_on_the_pacific.html

[CountAllVotes]

1. Eerie orange glow out there

I'm on the coast not far from the Oregon border and the skies have been orange colored for a few days. They are recommending not to go outside and stay outside for too long. How can you? It is killing everyone around here that has allergies, etc. because you can't breathe!

I too fear for the potential El Nino winter again.

This climate change is not B.S., that is for sure!

& recommend.

[cilla4progress]

2. I live in the belly of the beast

A few miles as the crow flies from Chelan, Wenatchee, the Methow valley. Last summer the Methow saw the largest fire in Washington history with many homes lost including lower income /affordable housing; this summer started with a bang when 23 homes on the edge of the city of Wenatchee and one fruit warehouse and a recycling center within the city burned; now the Methow is on fire again with 3 firefighters losing their lives yesterday.

My daughter works for the Forest Service in their "expanded" dispatch, which is called out when all hell breaks loose. At it is right now.

In '94 we lost our home to a wildfire here, thinking it was kind of a one-off.

We lost our irrigation in August this year - when we first moved to this property it lasted through November when it froze out.

We are on the front line of climate change. We are considering a move, though we hate to leave the place we love, we've built, and have nurtured back to health after its own devastating fire 20+ years ago. Odd to think of who might actually buy here, although the human memory can be very short-lived and powerful in its self-deception.

Hard, scary, confusing times. No self-pity here, more like, sharing in the universal experience of human struggle and uprootedness. As baby boomers, we managed to escape most of that - war, famine, displacement - thoughout our lives. Well, shit's about to get real, now!!

[LWolf]

3. I'm wondering

if I will spend the rest of my life hoping for, expecting, a "normal" season that will never occur.

[love_katz]

4. I feel the same.

Everything is too dry and crispy crittered. The Western Red Cedar in my parking strip has dead and dried up fronds on the side where the sun blasts on it during the afternoon. It makes me feel so bad when I look at it. The Incense Cedar planted at the north end of the strip is in much better shape. I noticed today that it is shaded by a black walnut tree. That bit of shade has made a huge difference. I very much miss our more normal weather.

[cilla4progress]

5. January - July 2015

Hottest ever on record on our planet earth.

Time for real solutions.

[LWolf]

6. Well past time. nt

[SoapBox]

7. Ack!

I got into Beaverton last night...today is awful.

The orange glow and smell of smoke...add to that not one single leaf is moving...no wind!

Bizarre!

[0rganism]

8. Gah! *hack hack cough ptooie*

i've lived in Hillsboro for over 10 years and i've never seen it this smoky. last year we had a forest fire burning nearby (around Hagg's lake iirc) throwing up a huge plume of smoke and the air wasn't half as cruddy as it is today.

i heard this morning that the air quality was the worst since the Mt. St. Helens eruption 35 years ago.

[LWolf]

9. According to

my friend, the wife of a fire fighter, they are stretched way too thin right now.