August fog

Devices in LaCrosse and Rosalia deemed the air "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" Tuesday due to smoke from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia and Alberta.

The improvement followed designations in the red zone for "Unhealthy" on Monday and last week.

As deemed by the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE), those in "Sensitive Groups," such as people with asthma, respiratory infection, diabetes, lung or heart disease, or who have had a stroke, are advised to limit time spent outdoors. Those with health conditions may experience worsened symptoms, and healthy people may begin to have symptoms.

On Tuesday, the DOE's Rosalia air quality number was 127 and the LaCrosse number 123. Pullman registered 93 – the amount of particulates (solid pieces of ash or dust) per volume of air.

Each school district makes decisions on how to proceed with outdoor sports practices.

For more information, http://www.whitmancountypublichealth.org links to the DOE's chart, which is monitored and updated locally.

The DOE's color-coded chart spans six rating levels. Red follows "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" (orange) and precedes "Very Unhealthy" (purple). The worst is a deep purple for "Hazardous."