A Smoky Day In Portland

A view from space of the Dollar Lake Fire smoke plume riding easterly winds.

Smoke from the Dollar Lake Fire looking west from Palmer Snowfield on Mt. Hood. Courtesy: Viewer Jeff Raetz

Viewer Garry Yarosevich watched the Dollar Lake Fire's explosive growth Saturday morning. Look at that smoke plume!

By this afternoon the smoke blanketed skies above Vancouver. This picture sent in by the Campbell family.

Here's a picture of colorful smoke rising from the Dollar Lake Fire. Viewer Kelly Gray snapped this picture.

One of the most gorgeous things about smoky skies is the sunsets they produce. Take a look at this sunset over Cooper Mountain captured by Ed Cleary.

Incredible- today's east winds were strong enough to carry the smoke to the coast. This gorgeous shot from Don Best at Rockaway Beach. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Up until noon today-skies were bright blue above Portland. All of the sudden, a hot, dry easterly wind picked up-and a smoky haze poured into the northern Willamette Valley and southwest Washington. By sunset tonight-the smoke had marched all the way to the Oregon Coast. The smoke is coming from a fire burning on Mt Hood. It was sparked by a lightning strike on August 27th. Today the gusty easterly winds fanned the flames and smoke west. I had to share some incredible pictures sent to us by viewers. The first picture above is a picture taken from space-you can easily make out the wild fire and the smoke plume that drifted east into Portland/Vancouver.