Fire danger drops Sunday, air quality will improve west

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Clouds are starting to move in from south to north as onshore flow picks up this evening, which will help bring in clean air to dissipate the wildfire smoke. By 5 p.m. Saturday the east wind went practically flat here in the metro area. It wasn’t quite as gusty for us west of the Cascades today as it was yesterday, but we saw the dangerous wildfire conditions play out with the Cedar Creek fire near Oakridge, which more than doubled in size the last 24 hours. Most of the smoke we had over us today was from that fire, the plume has been slowly drifting north.

It’s possible we see some patchy drizzle along the coast tomorrow, and Portland may see some showers late tomorrow night, but otherwise it’ll be a partly cloudy and slightly cooler day, with temperatures in the mid 80s. Air quality will start to improve thanks to the air coming in from the coast, and most of us in the interior valleys should see “good” air quality by Sunday evening. Areas east of the Cascades will likely see air quality deteriorate throughout the day as smoke will now be getting pushed east.

The rest of the week looks pretty nice! There’s a chance for an early shower or two on Monday, but then we’ll see a mix of clouds and sun and more fall-like temperatures in the 70s through Saturday.