We have been experiencing an unusually high number of days blanketed in smoke this month. After returning from my vacation in Cape Cod, I thought I had caught a cold or something, as my throat was scratchy, eyes watery, and nose was stuffy... It would come and go though, so I was at a loss for the cause until the first day the smoke appeared as thick as a dense fog. Well, it happened again today. As I drove to work I noticed how nice the day was turning out and about halfway through the morning I began smelling smoke (inside the building). I walked to the front of the store to look out the windows and could barely make out the buildings of the mall, less than 2 blocks away... This is a picture of the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, taken from across the Elizabeth River, in Norfolk:
Apparently the Great Dismal Swamp and some other areas of northeastern NC have had several fires over the past couple of months, and the fires have ignited the peat floor of the quite dry swamp. The experts are saying that the only way the fires and smouldering peat will be put out for good will be by a tropical depression, storm, or hurricane moving through the area. When the wind doesn't blow from the south, the smoke stays in the extreme southern parts of VA and into NC. There was a code "Purple" air quality advisory posted for northeastern NC last week, I have never heard of a code "Purple" before...
All I know is I'd like it to be gone, without having a named storm come though and quench it!
Over and "Out" from sunny, hot, and smokey Chesapeake, VA
1 comment:
And they're saying a huge tropical storm-type rain is all that'll put that out? Ugh! They have trouble with that sort of swamp burning thing in Florida sometimes.
The Great Dismal Swamp is such a good name for a swamp, though, don't you think?
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