Wildfires in Western States are making their presence known across the entire country. Take a look at the HRRR Smoke model below for Saturday morning, showing smoke aloft.
Just incredible. Almost the entire country has smoke overhead. Smoke aloft is particularly heavy over parts of the Midwest & Southeast, along with the West, where the fires are burning.
How much of this smoke is reaching the surface? Let’s take a look at near-surface smoke, also on Saturday morning.
Much less reaching the surface, thankfully. The highest near-surface concentrations are over the West, Midwest, and Southeast. (The heaviest near-surface smoke is in Washington’s Methow Valley, where air quality measurements have reached astounding numbers of 450-1000+).
The staggering impact of the smoke is evident in this webcam image taken on Friday in Chicago, more than 1,500 miles east of the fires.
More reminiscent of a West Coast scene than the Midwest.
Thankfully, Western Washington will remain smoke-free through at least the next few days, due to predominantly westerly/northwesterly winds that will keep smoke out.
We are also entering into what will likely be an extended period of warmer weather. Below is the forecast for Federal Way from Weather Underground.
Expect mostly sunny weather, with the exception of increased clouds at times from late Monday to Thursday morning. Highs will be in the low-mid 80s with lows in the mid-upper 50s.
Additionally, our next period of hot temperatures is beginning to take shape next week. High temperatures of 85-90 degrees are possible from Wednesday to Saturday.
Temperatures over 80 degrees are likely through the start of August.
Our dry streak is currently at 38 days, and with no rain for at least 10 days, reaching 50 straight days without rain seems likely. This will allow drought coverage to continue worsening across the state.
A note about my recent absence from blogging: I took a vacation this past week to Long Beach, WA. It was sunny each day (amazing for the Washington Coast)! I took the photo below from Bell’s View in Cape Disappointment State Park, looking north. You can see the entire 30-mile peninsula and all the way to the Olympic Mountains (nearly 100 miles) on a totally clear day!
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