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Something in the orange tells us wildfire smoke has arrived in Portland.
A westward shift in winds on Monday cast an amber haze over the city as smoke from the catastrophic wildfires burning in central Washington and Oregon degraded the air quality.
Smoke and haze that descend on the city Monday morning is expected to continue into Wednesday. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on Monday issued an air quality advisory for the Portland metro area and a dozen counties across the state.
The air quality index reached orange, meaning it’s unhealthy for sensitive groups, by Monday afternoon and is expected to remain at that level until at least late Tuesday.
“Smoke and haze will likely continue impacting the area through at least Wednesday or Thursday before onshore flow returns and helps clear smoke out of the area from west to east late Thursday into Friday,” wrote forecasters at the National Weather Service’s Portland office. “Until then, offshore flow and upper level ridging will not only maintain smoke and haze but will also bring heat and fire weather concerns.”
The poor air quality is a reminder of the devastation playing out on the eastern side of the Cascades. Approximately 2,014,481 acres have burned in the Pacific Northwest during the 2026 wildfire season as of Monday morning, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. That’s just shy of the record-holding 2,081,661 from 2024. In Spokane, wildfire razed entire neighborhoods over the weekend. Much of the Warm Spring Reservation was evacuated last month. And some of the smoke pouring into Portland comes from the Grasshopper Fire in the Mount Hood National Forest, which has destroyed a cherished, century-old fire tower.
A wood-burning ban was issued by the Multnomah County Health Department, effective at noon on Monday. It’s the second wood burning ban—what the county calls a “red day”—of 2026. The burn remains in effect until conditions improve.
The wood burning ban prohibits all outdoor burning in Multnomah County. That includes agricultural and backyard burning like fire pits and woodstoves. Indoor wood burning for cooking is still allowed. The restriction is in addition to the city burn ban that’s been in place since June 15 to avoid sparking urban wildfires.
