Wake up seven days a week with the Cascades Reader. Get local news, event information, podcasts, discounts and more. Sign up now!

Sign up

On Thursday, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for a host of counties in Oregon—including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties here in Central Oregon. That advisory is in effect until noon Friday.

Deschutes County’s air quality has hovered in the “Red” or “Orange” category this week due to a rash of fires in Oregon and the wider region.

To help you interpret what that means, the Source has created this very handy, totally scientific and not-fake-news-at-all guide to what the smoke levels mean.

Editor’s note: That last part was a joke. So is this:

Big ups to our friends over at The Inlander for the smoky inspo… 

This article appears in Aug 22-29, 2018.

MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN

One-time Monthly Annually

One-time

$25

$50

$150

Other Donation amount

$

Monthly

$10

$20

$85

Other Donation amount per month

$

Annually

$120

$500

$1,000

Other Donation amount per year

$

We're stronger together! Become a Source member and help us empower the community through impactful, local news. Your support makes a difference!

Donate Now

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Close window

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Smoke Levels Explained

by Nicole Vulcan, The Source - Bend, Oregon
August 23, 2018

<h1>Smoke Levels Explained</h1> <p class="byline">by Nicole Vulcan, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />August 23, 2018</p> <p><span class="fdnDropCap">O</span>n Thursday, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued an <a href="https://www.oregon.gov/newsroom/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?newsid=2888" target="_blank">air quality advisory</a> for a host of counties in Oregon—including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties here in Central Oregon. That advisory is in effect until noon Friday.</p> <p>Deschutes County's <a href="/bend/hazy-skies/Content?oid=7129325" target="_blank">air quality</a> has hovered in the "Red" or "Orange" category this week due to a rash of fires in Oregon and the wider region.</p> <p><b>To help you interpret what that means, the Source has created this very handy, totally scientific and not-fake-news-at-all guide to what the smoke levels mean.</p> <p></b>Editor's note: That last part was a joke. So is this:</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full aligncenter aligncenter"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/source-aqi-r2.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/source-aqi-r2.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-27418" /></a></figure> <p> Big ups to our friends over at <a href="https://www.inlander.com/spokane/four-better-smokier-versions-of-that-boring-air-quality-index-chart/Content?oid=11637517" target="_blank">The Inlander </a>for the smoky inspo...&nbsp;</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/smoke-levels-explained-7146564/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=27394&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/news/smoke-levels-explained-7146564/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Copy to Clipboard

1

Trending

Deschutes County Commission Candidate Ron Boozell Arrested at Forum in BendMay 1, 2026Clayton Franke

Bend Is Ripe For a New Indoor Venue. It's Unclear How That Will Look.April 28, 2026Clayton Franke

Walkouts Planned in Bend, Redmond for May Day  April 29, 2026Jesse Coronado

May 2026 Election: Endorsements and IdeasApril 29, 2026The Source Editorial Board