Wildfire smoke could be visible in Massachusetts during otherwise great weekend forecast
BOSTON - It's looking like a great weekend weatherwise in Massachusetts, though you may notice some haze in the sky from wildfires on the West Coast.
If you were outdoors Thursday night, you likely noticed a big change in the feel of the air. Humidity levels dropped big time yesterday and the airmass overhead will remain quite dry and comfy right through this weekend.
Wildfire smoke could be visible
Friday will be a sparkling day with nearly wall to wall sunshine. However, you may notice a bit of a hue or touch of haze in the air in some locations. This is our old friend coming back. You may remember the persistent Canadian wildfires from last year? Well, 'tis the season. Currently, there are untamed wildfires throughout the Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Western Canada.
The smoke from the distant fires is largely traveling into the Upper Midwest and Central Canada but a small amount is being funneled down through Ohio, Pennsylvania and finally, into southern New England. This smoke is being transported our way at high levels in the atmosphere, so there is no concern for poor air quality at ground level.
The largest concentrations are currently through Connecticut and Rhode Island and much of this smoke is forecast to push southward out to sea. But, just a heads up, that you may be able to detect a bit of a haze in the sky at times on Friday and again over the weekend as another "lobe" rotates through.
Here's the forecast for Saturday. Again, there's a fairly low concentration of smoke in New England.
What does the forecast look like for the weekend?
Now, on to that great weekend forecast! If you have tickets to the big Fenway series with the Sox and Yanks, the forecast really couldn't be better! Same goes for whatever you may have planned from mountaintop to seashore this weekend. All outdoor plans are a go!
During the second half of Sunday, we will start to see some high clouds streaming in from the south and east. This is our next system to watch. A rather odd area of low pressure will drift towards southern New England late Sunday and Monday. It almost has the look of a tropical system but at this point it doesn't appear as though it will bring much more than some clouds and rain showers during the day Monday. Just in case, we will keep an eye on it through the weekend.