More fall sunshine with summer-like highs this week!

SEATTLE - Sunshine and warmth! What a way to start the work week, especially after such an abrupt end to summer with all the smoky skies and then the rain kicking right into gear for the first days of fall.

This week looks promising for summer-like conditions. Highs will climb each day through midweek as a strong ridge is over us and also out off the coast. Sunny and dry conditions will headline our forecast even as we move into the weekend. We'll dial back temps slightly late week, but don't worry we'll still see above normal warmth.

Highs Tuesday and Wednesday will push near 80! Yes, 80 around Puget Sound, maybe even warmer in some spots as well. High pressure will keep us mostly sunny, but there is the threat of some smoke wafting out over the Pacific Ocean again from California and pushing right back into Western WA. This is unfortunate timing for the PNW as our air quality is in the "Good" zone. We'll continue to monitor the smoke and haze, but this event should not be bad as the smoky skies and hazardous air quality we saw a couple weeks ago.

Something else to note... look north to the stars tonight as you may get a glimpse of the "Northern Lights". Best chances to see the "Aurora Borealis" is away from the city lights. The moon is putting out a lot of bright light in the skies too, so this might make it a little more difficult to catch the beautiful glow. Send us your pictures if you happen to catch this amazing site!

The second half of the week features more spectacular skies with temperatures falling off a bit into the low 70s, still really nice for this time of year. Overnights are mild in the mid to upper 50s.

By the weekend look for some clouds for partly sunny days. Highs will drop a few more degrees with most of us in the upper 60s to low 70s. And at this point kick off conditions for the Sounders FC look great Saturday night as they host another rival.... the Vancouver Whitecaps. You can catch all the match action on #JOEtv, your official home of the Rave Green!