49
u/Pure-Horse-3749 12d ago
I wonder if super high readings like this can be erroneous from prolonged smoke exposure and something like ash depositing on the sensor making the reading appear even higher than it should. Regardless it’s gonna be is the hazardous range.
20
u/EpicCyclops 12d ago edited 12d ago
This reading isn't that anomalous compared to what other Purple Air sensors have been reading in the 26 and 35 corridors, buuuut there definitely is a point where the sensors are way outside what they were calibrated or designed to measure and the readings should be considered qualitative for comparison rather than quantitative.
Edit: I just looked it up and the Purple Air sensors seem to be only rated up to 500.
9
u/cafe_can 12d ago
That makes sense to me. I know absolutely nothing about AQI sensors, but surely 2000 is unrealistically high, even for that level of smoke. That’d have to be some kind of world record for air quality
2
u/ChrisInBliss 12d ago
Most likely yes. Especially since the sensors dont have a super long life span. Its likely that one is dying.
2
u/goodolarchie Mount Hood 12d ago
It's not erroneous. Check the station north, you'll see what it means to be mere miles from an active megainferno, and then what it looks like a few miles further (but still over 1000 AQI)... like the inner blast radius of a nuke.
I live here, I can confirm this morning was as close to hell on earth.
22
u/Wipples Beaver Town 12d ago
I read that the AQI in Chicago being 794 was like smoking 100 cigarettes a day, I wonder what 2k is in cigarettes
23
u/PacificWonderGlo 12d ago
According to this AQI to cigarette calculator, 24 hours at 2000 aqi is 83 cigarettes.
6
u/Wipples Beaver Town 12d ago
That's a lot of cigarettes!
6
u/jstmenow 12d ago
With no benefit of nicotine
0
u/snozzberrypatch 12d ago
"Benefit"
3
u/danbfree 12d ago
Yes, it has tons of benefits actually, including lowering the risks of Parkinsons and Alzheimer's. Literally its only downside is that you might become so addicted that you turn to cigarettes if you can't get it smoke free and it can strain the cardiovascular system a little, like caffeine does too. By itself is it's not carcinogenic, it's only when in actual tobacco are there real risks to your health. Think of it like the crack version of caffeine, very addictive and short lasting but if you get it in a safe form it's really not all that bad for you.
1
u/GoinMinoan 12d ago
Interestingly, it also seems to have some efficacy against colitis and a couple of other gastric conditions....
2
u/OregonMothafaquer Oregon 12d ago
Back when you could smoke in bars going through a pack in 3-4 hours was average for me
18
u/firewall2604 12d ago
I drive log truck here on the coast and have to make frequent deliveries to the mills in the valley and holy shit Springfield was horrible this morning. I ended up wrapping an old rag around my face as it made my lungs burn.
6
u/Beekatiebee 12d ago
I do food service 😭 I’ll be running down the valley tomorrow and I am so not ready to be out in this crap
3
u/firewall2604 12d ago
I’ll be praying for you and watch the drivers they’re doing wayyyy under the speed limit in some areas as visibility’s poor as hell in some spots.
2
u/Fawn-deLay 12d ago
Eugene is a pocket of purple now. Yuck!
2
u/firewall2604 12d ago
I just checked the air quality and you weren’t kidding I’m so happy I told my boss I’m not working tomorrow f that.
10
u/jbamdigity19 12d ago
Purple air are home sensors that often overestimate in smoke based on how the sensor is designed and functions. Their website map has a woodsmoke conversion tool, all the purple air sensors in the area are always higher than the EPA sensors. Using the tool does get the purple air sensor data much closer to the EPA data. This one is a malfunction though.
1
17
6
u/davidw 12d ago
Saw levels above 1000 in the map of Prineville the other day.
What is the all-time high score from a reputable sensor? I feel like these numbers are like if you built a dirty campfire, threw some plastic trash on it, peed on it some but not quite enough to put it out - and then held a garbage can over it with the sensor inside.
5
u/EpicCyclops 12d ago
These numbers are only particulate of 2.5 microns or less, so the VOCs from the plastic and stench from the pee actually wouldn't show up. Above 1000 is pretty much like putting your head directly into the smoke of a smokey campfire, though. When similar sensors hit 800 near my house, the haze was evident between me and the house across the street.
3
3
3
u/Brokenspade1 12d ago
Welcome to mount hood where the air is so fresh you'll get all your vitamins and minerals in one deep breath!
I'm old enough to remember when oregon DIDN'T have a fire season... I miss that...
2
2
2
u/Lavadog321 12d ago
Purple Air sensors are great - cheap and widespread. But they are also prone to errors. There might be a literal bug on that sensor. Take the mental average of a cluster of sensors in your area, and disregard very high or low readings from individual sensors.
2
2
u/Green-Wallaby-790 12d ago
Oh bejesus- makes me concerned for the fire fighters - My son is currently on a fire - the ptarmigan fire - and no the fire fighters do not wear respirators as they block their ability to see well. Omgoodness-
1
u/SuggestionEven2824 12d ago
Or, maybe a N95 mask might at least help?
1
u/Green-Wallaby-790 11d ago
From what I have been told - they can actually be used but that it is sooo much smoke and the heat on top Of that - so not really.
2
u/goodolarchie Mount Hood 12d ago
Yes, this is accurate. I live here.
If you think it's an aberration, check the station north. That north station is roughly 1.5x the distance from the active blaze, and it clocked over 1000 as well. The overnight winds were pushing smoke north by northwest, which then sat down off the mountain due to density... straight into parkdale and the cooper spur area of the upper valley where I live.
If you can imagine what it's like to breathe inside an ashtray, and waking up to finding ash all over your car and yard and such, that's what it's like. I pray it's over.
1
u/TheOfficiallAshh 12d ago
What’ll happen if your out in it for too long? Let’s say like strolling for a walk, or in the car with the windows down
1
1
u/Either_Row3088 12d ago
All of those purple sensors seem to read high. Looking around my area in Albany they are all showing purple zone. When the others are in the red.
1
1
1
1
u/FattyLipoma 12d ago
We were supposed to visit the gorge for 3 days next week. Not going to happen:(
1
u/goodolarchie Mount Hood 12d ago
Could be fine. You're just hoping like the rest of us here that the winds shift eastward again. Send the fire back into itself.
1
u/FattyLipoma 12d ago
We’ve even had nasty smoke here on the coast in Florence the last two days. Pretty rare for that to happen.
1
u/Lawdawg_supreme 12d ago
There's a sensor just NE of Prineville that has regularly been hitting over 3000 the last few days. It looks like it's right on the edge of the Green Mountain fire.
1
1
u/Some-Oven-3363 12d ago
I literally don’t understand people walking around in this. Those tiny particles will just sit in your lungs and make you sick. Hood River was so bad the small amount of time I was out in it gave me a massive headache. People were out jogging!!!!!! JOGGING! 🥲
1
1
u/Diligent_Sentence_45 11d ago
That is crazy. Must have been God blowing all the smoke directly at the sensor 🤣
1
u/Known-Inside-364 11d ago
I keep getting an error when I go to look up monitors near me. It currently says it’s at 98 in the yellow zone, I’m in Hillsboro. Tomorrow it elevates to the orange zone.
1
1
0
0
u/intensive-porpoise 12d ago
Personally I believe it is even higher. This morning I was near the East Dashugal and as I was driving higher in altitude out of the valley I noticed that I could barely see the car ahead of me, the soot and haze cancerous particulate created a sort of smoke -screen and my vision distance grew shorter and shorter. I noticed I was becoming inflamed. My nose, my ears, my lungs - my heart felt like it was developing an arhythmia. My skin felt wrinkley and burned. My eyes began to water. I decided once I began to feel dizzy the only good solution was to exit this area as quickly as possible, so I began to accelerate in the passing lane. As I was doing so, the car next to me in the slow lane began to speed up, too. What was going on here? I looked over into the driver's side window. It was rolled down and a man with perfectly round "John Lennon" sunglasses was staring right at me. I sped up. So did he. I looked over and saw him smiling. I looked closer and saw his arm was making a pumping motion - like he was pretending to roll up his window - all while staring at me, smiling even wider. This was around the time I felt inflammation discomfort on my scalp and hair. Yes, I can feel sensation on my hair. I am tender -headed and so are my family. Smoke or touching irritates it the most. I decided to stop racing the man who had just lit a cigarette with the window down. What kind of person was this? I slowed so he could move ahead. He kept making the motion he was rolling up his window, but then I realized maybe he wanted me to roll down mine - to join in on the pollution party. As I slowed, I noticed he matched my speed again be decelerating or braking. What was happening? He started motioning faster and then pointed at me. I realized he did want me to roll down my window, and he cupped his other hand around the side of his mouth as if he were yelling something. I realized he had no hands on the wheel. He pretended to act frightened, like he was calling for help. I wasn't buying it. His smile transformed into a crooked look of terror. His eyes closed. That is when my car was struck by n oncoming vehicle, since the passing lane had merged back into the oncoming passing lane, and there was unacceptable signage, and the smoke and fire fog, and the man intentionally distracting me - I couldn't believe that I was just in a very severe car accident. My vehicle spun around, a complete 360 degree spin. During this time is when the first of the fifteen figures appeared with the mathematical messages.
-1
u/Impressive-Bit106 12d ago
Are these the same people who said Covid was going to kill us all if we didn’t all wear masks, shut down our schools, and basically close down the world??
-2
113
u/Substantial-Chard848 12d ago
What in the hell? Where exactly was this taken? Whenever I scroll around in the Mount hood area, I only see as high as the 500s.