A shroud of thick wildfire smoke settled over Seattle just about a week ago, and the city has been free from the haze for only a handful of days — but it’s about to come back.
This time, thankfully, it won’t be any more noticeable than a tinge to the sunrise and sunset.
A weather system was moving in from the northwest on Wednesday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Logan Howard. It was pulling in smoke from wildfires in British Columbia and across the state, nearly 2% of which has burned this wildfire season, making for the third-worst year among the past 20 recorded.
The smoke will be high enough in the sky that it won’t cause any air quality issues, and you won’t even be able to smell it, Howard said. The mountains might look hazy though, and it’ll “make for some good sunrises and sunsets,” giving them a more concentrated fiery hue.
The high haze will stick around before it moves back east on Friday, Howard said Wednesday morning.
An upper-level trough was expected to bring the coverage just in time for the peak of the Perseids meteor shower Wednesday night, with hundreds of meteors hurtling across the night sky, raining out of the Perseus constellation.
Visibility for the spectacle will already be obscured.
The skies will be clearer heading into the weekend, Howard said.
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