Another hot & smoky day Wednesday

• Smoke sticks around tomorrow
• Hot through Friday
• Cooler into next week

It was another hot and smoky day, with air quality continuing to deteriorate through the day. By this afternoon, most air quality sensors in the Portland area were showing “unhealthy” air quality. We’ll see more wildfire smoke tomorrow, causing air quality concerns once again. An air quality advisory will remain in effect tomorrow.

Temperatures will be hot once again, with highs likely in the low to mid 90s. Wildfire smoke has made it difficult to nail down an exact temperature for many locations. Areas with thicker wildfire smoke are likely to stay a few degrees cooler than expected, while locations with thinner smoke can see temperatures climb higher. Regardless, it should be a hot afternoon for the metro area.

By tomorrow afternoon, we should see a shift to onshore flow, helping to start clear out smoke and haze along the coast. That will continue inland into Wednesday night. By Thursday we should be looking at clearer skies and improving air quality. Some haze could still be lingering around, but the sunny skies should help temperatures climb to the low mid 90s again Thursday.

Because of both the smoky conditions and the ongoing heat, Wednesday and Thursday continue to be First Alert Weather Days.

It remains hot by the end of the week but will begin to cool down slightly. We should drop below the threshold for a First Alert Weather Day and see more typical August summer heat. Temperatures will continue to cool into the weekend, and by Sunday we’ll see the return of morning clouds, clearing to sunny afternoons. Temperatures will be back around average early next week.

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