UPDATED: Will the wind impact Myrtle Beach’s air quality after wildfires? Here’s what to know

Concerns of leftover smoke and changing winds from a weekend of fires blanketed the Myrtle Beach region on Monday morning.

Lead meteorologist for the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, Andrew Kingston, said over the phone on Monday afternoon that his office is continuing to monitor the air quality after sending an alert out earlier.

He said the monitors his office uses report out real time data every hour. Since this alert is a special notice, Kingston explained that they’ll continue to evaluate it until the air particles go back to normal levels. He anticipates that will be Wednesday, with an expected rain storm coming in that day.

During the winter months temperature fluctuations are greater in the morning compared to the summer, according to Kingston. As a result, he said the most likely time people are going to be impacted by the wildfire smoke is overnight and early in the morning.

An earlier 11:22 a.m. email from the SCDES media relations office said there’s an air quality alert for Horry County in place.

“An Air Quality Alert means that the fine particulate concentrations within the specified areas may approach or exceed unhealthy standards due to local wildfire smoke in the Myrtle Beach area,” they wrote in the email. “High pressure over the Southeast U.S. will continue to dominate the region today and tomorrow, minimizing smoke dispersion from numerous wildfires in the area.”

The SCDES alert recommends that individuals with respiratory health issues limit time spent outdoors and potentially move all activities indoors to avoid the smoke or fine particulates. The department also said to keep windows and doors closed as smoke clears. According to SCDES, running an air conditioner and keeping the fresh-air intake closed and the filter clean can prevent outdoor smoke and fine particulates from getting inside.

The Environmental Protection Agency monitors air quality throughout the United States. For Horry County, the agency said the area had “moderate” air quality, as of 8 a.m. on Monday.

Moderate air quality mean’s it’s acceptable for the general population, but those who are sensitive to air pollution may experience respiratory symptoms, according to the EPA’s air quality index manual.

A call to the EPA’s main press line was unable to be completed on Monday, with an automated messaged from Verizon saying “the call cannot be completed.” The area code for the phone number is based in Washington D.C. This could be a result of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s recent efforts to cut federal spending by firing federal employees. In February, 388 probationary EPA employees were fired, according to a statement from the President at the time.

A written emailed update from lead Horry County spokesperson Mikayla Moskov said there is still heavy smoke across the area with low visibility in Carolina Forest, as well as up and down Highway 501 and Highway 31 to Water Tower Road. Moskov later said via text message that specific questions about air quality in Horry County should be directed to the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services.

This time of year isn’t unusual for wildfires in South Carolina, Kingston with the SCDES said.

“This time of year, we’ll have a lot of prescribed burns that go on throughout the state, and usually farm land, agriculture, stuff like that, getting their fields ready for plowing and planting, so they do a lot of that in-between February and April,” he said. “Those can jump and spark if there’s wind involved, and catch areas that aren’t supposed to be catching on fire.”

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, NC issued a warning on Monday about persistent dangerous fire conditions in the region.

Meteorologist at the NWS in Wilmington, Victoria Oliva, said the smoke could be so bad in places that there could be zero visibility when driving.

The winds are currently blowing from east to west at less than ten miles per hour, and will remain that way for the rest of the day into tonight, she said.

“They’re very weak at the moment, nothing like we’ve seen in the last two days,” Oliva said.

In terms of what it will take for the smoke to clear out of the region, Oliva said it’ll depend on the fire itself, and directed those questions to the state’s forestry department.

Based on the forecast for tonight, she said folks could still see smoke into tomorrow morning. By Wednesday, she confirmed that the gusty winds from the weekend could return to the region.

“Hopefully by then the fire’s in good condition,” she said.

Meteorologists have already issued a hazardous weather outlook for Wednesday, when severe thunderstorms are possible in the region. The primary concern during the storms is for “damaging gusting winds,” the NWS outlook said.

This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 11:11 AM.

Elizabeth Brewer

The Sun News

828-237-1377

Elizabeth covers local government and politics in Myrtle Beach and holds truth to power as the accountability reporter. She’s lived in five states and holds a masters degree in Journalism.