Could wildfire smoke from California impact Whatcom’s Labor Day weekend weather?
Whatcom County residents could see hazy or pink sunsets Thursday and Friday as smoke from California wildfires pushes north across Western Washington.
But the smoke should stay in the upper atmosphere and not affect air quality closer to the ground, said Jake DeFlitch, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle.
“We expect it to be really high,” DeFlitch told The Bellingham Herald. “Hazy skies at times will be the biggest impact.”
Seth Preston, spokesman for the Northwest Clean Air Agency, said air quality remained good Thursday in Bellingham and Whatcom County, and that officials thought smoke would stay high in the air for at least the next couple of days..
Meanwhile, Washington state and the rest of the West Coast will see sunny skies and unseasonably warm temperatures through next week, DeFlitch said.
A ridge of high pressure will bring daytime highs in the high 70s and low 80s through the Labor Day weekend and beyond. Overnight lows will be in the mid- to high 50s.
DeFlitch said it’s too early to tell if winds will change enough to bring more smoke into Western Washington next week., along with the warmer weather
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 12:12 PM.
