Wildfire Smoke Expected For Hot Weekend In Portland

What a relief today was, finally ending our heatwave. Most of our afternoon just saw temperatures in the 70s and low 80s throughout the Portland metro area. We will continue to see clear skies through the night, which should allow temperatures to drop nicely tonight. Expect a cooler night with temperatures late tonight in the 60s and an overnight low in the low to mid 50s, with some spots dropping into the upper 40s. Much cooler than we have been!

Tomorrow will see some changes in the forecast. First, it will be sunny and temperatures are expected to climb quickly with high pressure in place. Most of us will reach the upper 80s, with some of the metro reaching the low 90s. The big change will be in the skies though. While we’ll be sunny to start, a northeast wind is going to bring in wildfire smoke to Oregon from wildfires burning in Canada. Eastern Oregon will see areas of dense smoke arrive in the morning and into the afternoon and evening that smoke will push west of the Cascades. The Portland metro area could see areas of dense smoke late in the afternoon and impacts to air quality. That smoke will continue to push south into the evening. The coast may notice more haze and some areas of smoke later in the night and overnight. Sunday will be another hot day, and skies will likely continue to be hazy with areas of smoke. Temperatures should climb into the low 90s. Keep your eye on the forecast this weekend to see how air quality will be impacted as smoke arrives.

Early next week will start out with temperatures back in the low to mid 80s through Wednesday. We’ll also see some more clouds during this time. There will be a lot of sunshine Monday, but Tuesday should be partly cloudy and we’ll get lots of morning clouds Wednesday. Nights will continue to be cooler, with lows in the upper 50s and low 60s. We turn very warm again Thursday, with a high in the upper 80s and some low 90s likely. Friday will be back to the mid 80s with lots of sunshine. Lows will be a little warmer Friday morning.

Of course, all eyes will be on Hurricane Hilary this weekend and next week. It’s predicted to make landfall in Southern California early Monday as a tropical storm. It will likely bring very impactful rainfall totals and possibly damaging winds to much of the southwestern U.S. We are expecting to see some of its impacts here in Oregon as well, as the moisture from the storm continues northeast, bringing rain and potential thunderstorms to Eastern Oregon. We do not expect impacts to NW Oregon or SW Washington.

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