Western Washington: Cooler, cleaner skies ahead
Cooler temperatures sticks around through the week
The clouds will break Monday afternoon for more sunshine and highs will climb into the 70s once again.
After dealing with skyrocketing fire danger and bad smoke this weekend, cleaner and cooler air is on tap for Western Washington today.
Westerly winds today are ushering in fresh, clean Pacific air. This onshore flow will push much of the smoke back up over the Cascades and out into Eastern Washington. West winds will firmly be in place all week, keeping temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s with more clouds than sunshine. It'll finally start feeling like September around here!
Here's a look at air quality levels as of earlier this morning. In the yellow, there are "moderate" air quality readings. This means it's much safer for people with respiratory issues to be outside; however, there could be a moderate health impact to people who are extra sensitive to air pollution. In the orange, the air quality category is "unhealthy for sensitive groups." Unfortunately, the air quality will be much worse out into Eastern Washington.
Air quality is improving across Western Washington
Abby Acone is tracking the air quality in Western Washington, which is improving.
Here are more resources about air quality:
We're carefully tracking fire danger around our state. Thankfully, we no longer have any Red Flag Warnings in effect. Even though the fire threat is lower today compared to this weekend, conditions still aren't great for firefighters. With the chance for lightning today, we'll have to watch for new fires that may ignite. Here's a look at conditions of the Bolt Creek Fire as of earlier this morning:
Here's a look at high temps around the region today. We're forecasting mild weather for the Hawks game tonight!
Already today, we've tracked some isolated showers in the area. More spotty showers are possible today, particularly along the Cascades. There's a small risk for thunderstorms over the Cascades today. There's a slightly better chance for thunder over the Cascades and North Sound tomorrow.
Wednesday will start gray and end with afternoon sunshine. Thursday through Sunday look mainly cloudy. Highs will drop back to the upper 60s - a refreshing change from our summer heat!
Take care,
Meteorologist Abby Acone
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