I certainly don't remember it being this terrible, not to the point where sunlight struggled to get through; not to the point where the air was smoky enough to hinder outside activities, not to the point where the indomitable Rainier, visible even though it was over a 100mi away, could only be observed from its base. While the conjuncture of unlucky weather conditions caused the smoke from fires all over the western North America to accumulate here, the underlying cause - the deluge of wildfires burning through such a large swath of dry forested land is perhaps to blame. And that is not unusual.
With the North American continent becoming dryer and warmer, such events would be more probably, and more intense when they do occur. Only time will tell if humanity takes the right decisions with long-term vision in mind. Perhaps vistas of Mt Rainier, like the one above, will then become more common.
Mt Rainer National Park
WA USA