Pacific Northwest air quality improvements slow but steady Friday amid wildfires

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The first thing you’ll see out the door Friday is haze. Wildfire smoke will still be streaming overhead across the Willamette Valley. But as each hour ticks along small improvements will be underway. Our wind direction will become more westerly by the second half of the day. Air quality should be noticeably better by Saturday morning for western Oregon and Washington.

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The air quality advisory for the Portland metro area has expired, however, an air quality advisory remains in effect until 1pm Friday for portions of Southwest Washington in the North Clark County Lowlands, including the cities of Ridgefield, Battle Ground, Hockinson, Brush Prairie, and La Center.

Temperatures will also back off slightly Friday. Highs expected for Portland metro area will be in the upper 80s to low 90s. That still keeps us above the climate normal (83 degrees) for daytime highs but it will be a marked difference from Thursday’s high of 96 degrees.

Overall, big improvements are headed our way this weekend. Cooler daytime highs in the 80s and our typical onshore flow will return to push all wildfire smoke to the east. We’re expecting a dip in temps to the upper 70s as we get started early next week.

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