PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — For now, the wildfires in Virginia are not affecting the Hampton Roads area. But with the wildfire season just starting, this can all change.
WAVY 10’s meteorologists, like Jeremy Wheeler, are keeping a close watch on the smoke.
“It’s going to be traveling to the east and southeast a little bit, but as you can see, that thicker smoke should definitely be off to our west,” Wheeler said. “We should be just fine around here. Even I think the Richmond area should be fine, but north of Richmond in between there and D.C., they might have a few issues.”
With the largest fires burning near Shenandoah, anyone traveling north or west should keep an eye out for changing conditions.
One WAVY 10 viewer sent photos of the blaze from Harrisonburg.
“Fingers crossed we won’t have a repeat of what we had last year, but it’s never good when we start off early in the season with fires,” said Virginia Department of Environmental Quality meteorologist Dan Salkovitz.
Salkovitz said a lot can change throughout the season. Drought conditions, wind direction, rain and many other factors affect how wildfire smoke could impact us.
In 2023, wildfires from across the continent sent smoke to Virginia. For this year, it all depends on how the conditions play out.
“To pinpoint a particular area that could be causing an adverse effect is very difficult,” Salkovitz said. “It could be local, it could be far away. The weather pattern is the key as far as what the winds are that bring the smoke into the area.”
Wildfire smoke aside, Salkovitz said air quality in the state has improved in recent decades by decreasing the amount of industrial air pollution.
