What weather watchers are calling the worst smoky air in at least 15 years led to the cancellation or alterations of some events and voluntary groundings of small aircraft locally.

The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency rated the Eugene/Springfield area air quality as unhealthy � bordering on very unhealthy � at noon Sunday, with an air quality index reading of 196. A �very unhealthy� reading is 200 or above on the index. By 8 p.m., the reading had dropped to 163, still in the unhealthy range.

On Saturday, the local index was 144, which is also unhealthy for sensitive groups such as children, older adults and people with lung disease.

The poor air quality, which is because of smoke from wildfires, has been far-reaching, from Kelso, Wash., to as far south as Cottage Grove, said Gerald Macke, meteorological technician with the National Weather Service in Portland.

�Listening to the folks that have been in this office for 15-plus years,� he said, �they never saw smoke this bad in the last 15 years, this fast coming in and this widespread of this poor visibility because of smoke. This is the worst they�ve seen in at least 15 years.�

Macke said visibility in Eugene has been limited to about two to three miles for the past couple days but that residents can expect to see improvements today.

At least two local events were canceled because of the poor air quality.

The annual Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Reunion scheduled for Sunday at the Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend was cancelled, spokeswoman Monique Danzinger said, adding that Riverbend is hoping to re-schedule it.

Additionally, the annual Laurel Hill Valley Citizens picnic was rescheduled from this Sunday to Aug. 30, according to the neighborhood organization�s website.

Greenhill Humane Society�s annual pet parade at The Festival of Eugene was not canceled but was affected by Sunday�s poor air quality, Communication and Events Manager Sasha Elliott said.

Elliott said organizers modified the parade route to limit the amount of time that the animals and their caretakers would be exposed to the smoke. Elliott said that the shelter encourages pet owners to reduce their pet�s exercise during these type of conditions and bring their pets indoors.

In a special weather statement over the weekend the National Weather Service in Portland said poor air quality was expected to improve today.

The statement added that pollutants in smoke may cause eyes to burn and noses to run, and can aggravate heart and lung diseases and other health conditons.

The National Weather Service advised residents to limit outdoor activities and to keep children indoors.

Dr. Desmond Crooks of Eugene Urgent Care said that while the walk-in health care centers were expecting to see more patients coming in with respiratory and other health issues due to the air conditions, he had not seen a significant increase.

�I expected to see more cases and our clinics are not reporting that,� Crooks said. Crooks speculated that, depending on what is burning, the matter in the air is not aggravating lungs as much.

Crooks recommended that people avoid indoor pollutants such as propane from a stove or tobacco smoke as well as limiting their exposure to outdoor pollutants like the wildfire smoke.

Commercial air traffic to and from the Eugene airport was not affected by the smoky air, airport services manager Casey Boatman said, but pilots of small private aircraft were deciding not to fly.

Follow Francesca on Twitter @francescamarief . Email francesca.fontana@registerguard.com .