Will the smoke return this week to Western Washington?

SEATTLE -- With wildfires burning pretty much all around Puget Sound predicting if and when we'll get smoky hazy skies depends on the winds.

Q13 Chief Meteorologist Walter Kelley said Monday and Tuesday will be "nice" sunny days with highs in the 70s. But the wind will be a northerly wind, meaning smoke from wildfires burning in British Columbia will likely track back into Western Washington.

But there is hope: "It doesn't look as smoky as last week and the previous week where it's so dense you can't see across the street," Kelley said. "But, yes, we are going to have some hazy days."

Scientists at the Department of Ecology agree: "Northerly winds are expected on Monday, which could blow a little Canadian smoke into our state, but nothing like we saw earlier this year."

As of Sunday night, most of Western Washington had good to moderate air quality.

Forecast:

Monday through Wednesday will be dry and mostly sunny with highs near 73 degrees.

Thursday we have a weak system rolling through so we’d see mostly cloudy skies that day. There will be a little rain Thursday but mainly near the foothills.

Friday and the weekend look reasonable with highs near 70 degrees.

Right now, Labor Day weekend looks pretty mellow with a high near 72 degrees.

Periods of smoke will stick around until we get the much-needed Fall rains. At this point, those big Fall rains are not in the forecast but a little rain will move through from time to time. The overall forecast stays dry for the long haul.