Shifting winds expected to clear out wildfire smoke this weekend in Puget Sound

SEATTLE -- Smoke from British Columbia fires will continue to give us hazy skies for one more day, but relief is in sight.

Q13 News Meteorologist M.J. McDermott says air quality Thursday morning is in the UNHEALTHY category around much of Seattle, Issaquah, Tacoma, Bremerton, Bellingham and the Eastern slopes of the Cascades.

The good news? The Air Quality Alert ends Friday at noon.  Almost there!



Thursday will be the 13th consecutive day at or above 80 degrees. The longest run of 80+ days is 15 days, which happened in July of 2015.  We would break that record if we top out above 80 through the weekend -- luckily that is not what we’re expecting.

Hazy sunshine and warm, with highs in the mid-upper 80s. This is our 54th day without measurable rain at SeaTac adding onto the record for longest dry streak in Seattle weather history.

What about the weekend?



On Friday, expect hazy sun with temperatures in the low 80s.  Air quality improving with shifting winds!

The weather pattern shifts this weekend!  Our ridge of high pressure will be moving out -- we’ll have some clouds and it’ll be cooler, low-mid 70s.  Sunday, we could actually have a little rain!

Next week:  Partly cloudy and cooler — into the comfortable mid 70s.  Yay!

Summer sky watching



The nights of August 11 and 12 will be the peak of the annual Perseids meteor showers.

The morning of August 21 is the full solar eclipse from Newport, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina.

Around Puget Sound, while we will not be in the path of totality, the moon’s shadow will cover about 92% of the sun in our area.