Rain washes away smoke as weather cools down this weekend

After thick smoke clogged the skies, stifling Seattleites’ lungs with unhealthy air, the haze that has been hanging over the city for the past few weeks is starting to clear.

The air quality is improved for most of the area Friday morning, according to the Washington Smoke Blog, with pockets of air of a moderate to unhealthy quality in Snohomish County.

Relief on the way as smoky skies linger across WA

This is all due to a cold front approaching Seattle from the coast, bringing rain and wind inland to clear the air, Carly Kovacik, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, says.

“Now that we’ve got what’s going to be a decent frontal system approaching the area that’s actually going to help improve air quality through the day today, and actually, we’ve been seeing that overnight with a gradual improvement and visibility,” Kovacik said. “Looks like the worst air quality at this time is mostly confined to the Cascades and then areas east of like Everett to Lynwood.”

Rain is expected for most of the midday today, with some light showers expected to start around midmorning before tapering off as the weather system moves south by the evening. By Sunday, Seattle is expected to get between half an inch and an inch of rain.

This rain will contribute heavily to bringing the wildfires ravaging the state under control, but flash flooding on burn scars remains a concern, officials say.

“We’ll see the first round of rain start to move in later this morning and through the afternoon, and then we’ll remain showery,” Kovacik said. “It looks like tonight and then maybe into a portion of Saturday, and then another system will approach the area and then push through Sunday night into Monday. Between those two systems,  I would say there’s a good chance of the fire being largely contained.”

Saturday will have a wet morning before turning into intermittent showers for the rest of the day, while Sunday is expected to be drier. Highs this weekend will be in the 50s.

Sam Campbell contributed to this report.