Rain will soon douse unusually late fire season in the Pacific Northwest

(KOMO) - The Pacific Northwest will soon get some much-awaited relief from a fire season that is running well into October.

For now, however, smoke from nearby wildfires has prompted warnings to avoid extended outdoor activity due to air quality across the region.

KOMO News spoke with Maureen Kennedy, an associate professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, about the current status of fires and what this fire season could mean for future wildfire forecasts.

“You do need a good sustained rain storm to really put out the fires," Kennedy said. “The long drought – one of the driest Summers from July to October on record – is consistent with climate change.”

Kennedy said dry weather and a build-up over thick growth in the forests across the west have led to extreme fire behavior, including fire season extending well into Fall.

“You put those two together and it’s sort of the worst conditions possible for extreme fire behavior and these kinds of smoke impacts," she said.

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The smoky skies also caused concerning levels of air pollution around the Puget Sound.

"I have been coughing all day. It's kind of hard to breathe, I'm coughing to the point where I'm literally losing my voice," said Kiara Landon, who lives in Tacoma. "It just sucks, I like fresh air and it’s not so fresh.”

You can monitor real-time air quality on airnow.gov.Several places around western Washington reached unhealthy and even hazardous levels of pollution during the day on Thursday.