Historic fires cover the west -relief could be coming

picture taken from the front range of the Rockies

This has just been a very difficult fire season across the west with some of the largest fires burning in Washington. Smoke plumes continue to spread over a large swath of the US and the haze in the air has delayed flights as far away as Denver. Fires so large that the smoke plumes are visible from space. The plumes look like clouds on the satellite images, but we know it's smoke because they originate from the same location. 

The weather pattern this week favors the spread of smoke south and east across the northern Plains and into the central US. High pressure centered over southern Colorado allows the upper level winds to carry the smoke east and then south (winds blow clockwise around the high) The smoke does thin out some as it travels farther away, but there's just enough of it in the air to create some very red sunsets as seen in the picture above.

courtesy Jan Blair

Just look at how poor the air quality is in the before and after picture from Lewiston, ID. 

The forecast looks favorable for some rain into the weekend. A storm system developing over the Pacific Ocean and pushing east will bring some heavier rain to the coastal areas of Washington and Oregon. Hopefully there won't be more dry lightning strikes to start more fires.