Hazy skies continue on Friday as fire season heats up

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Inland Northwest woke up to a hazy sky after a night of clouds and thunderstorms. The system that moved through the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday drew in smoke from wildfires burning across the region.

A shift in winds will propel more smoke over the Spokane area for Friday. Wildfires in Eastern Oregon continue to churn up tens of thousands of acres, and more were started on Wednesday from lightning strikes.

Upper-level winds will blow from Oregon northeast across the Inland Northwest on Friday and Saturday. Smoke that rises from active fires on Thursday will travel on the winds over the Inland Northwest by Friday morning. The process will repeat until we see winds calm and shift out of the east on Sunday.

Thankfully, this smoke will be thousands of feet off the ground. Smoke from local wildfires will be the only concern for air quality this weekend. The Texas and Cougar Creek fires will mainly impact air quality around the LC Valley. The Pioneer Fire will mainly impact Chelan, the Methow Valley, and the Okanogan Valley. Spokane and Coeur d'Alene air quality is expected to be moderate for the next few days unless new wildfire activity causes a change.

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