Unhealthy air quality through Thursday as rain arrives this weekend

Rain returns Friday with temperatures in the upper 50s

Temperature-wise, it'll finally feel like fall this week!

SEATTLE - Today's air quality WAS very unhealthy again. Just look at our smoke-covered skies late this afternoon. Unfortunately, the atmosphere will look similar on Wednesday, but there is cleaner air in sight!

Tuesday's highs still landed well above normal at 68 for Sea-Tac with 71 at the National Weather Service office off Sandpoint Way in Seattle. Our seasonal average is 59 now.

Overnight skies are mostly clear but hazy. Look for early-morning fog to develop across much of Puget Sound just as it did Tuesday morning. Wake up temps cool into the upper 40s to near 50.

Wednesday's forecast will look very similar to today. Highs warm into the upper 60s again topping out about 6-10 degrees above average. Send the kids to school with a sweatshirt, but by the end of the day, they will take it off.

Air Quality Alerts remain in place for most counties across Western WA, except for a few along the central and south coast where westerly winds are pushing smoke east.

Here's the good news all! A big pattern shift is on the way, and it looks very promising for actual fall conditions. In fact, a special weather statement is now up for what's to come.

The first front of Autumn will arrive on Friday and produce steady rain across the region. We expect widespread rain, cooler temperatures, and breezy winds, along with mountain snow.

This is all thanks to high pressure finally breaking down and dropping off to the southeast allowing low pressure to take over. The jet stream will start to sag to the south allowing clouds to increase and showers to develop.

Here's a look at when rain hits the coast Friday.

Rain is widespread through early Saturday and then lets up some turning to light showers. With rain across the lowlands that means our first chance for mountain snow too! Saturday snow levels drop to near 4,000 feet-- that's near pass level for Stevens and White Pass.