Hazy Sunshine Continues Ahead of Fall-Like Cooldown

Did you notice the milky, smoky look to the sky during the day yesterday? All of that has to do with the smoke being produced by the devastating wildfires out west. The jet stream aloft in the atmosphere picks up that thick smoke and displaces it all across the United States. Locally, it did make for a stellar sunset to end the day yesterday. For those that were up around sunrise this morning, you were greeted to a similar smoky scene. You could almost copy & paste the forecast from yesterday for your day today other than temps being a few degrees warmer. 

Thankfully though, all of that wildfire smoke will not contribute to hazardous air quality levels in the upcoming days. Since it's located so high up in the atmosphere, all it's going to do is make the sky look very hazy. High pressure over the Mid-Atlantic remains in control for our Tuesday. This will continue to keep conditions dry into the second half of our day, but all of that sunshine will be filtering through that thick haze. Winds may be a bit breezy once we get into the afternoon, as a southwesterly wind could gust up to 20 mph at times. It's because of this breeze that highs this afternoon with temperatures hovering around the 80° mark. In other words, it's going to be another great day to take the puppers for a nice long walk, or to the dog park. Enjoy the warmer temperatures while they last. A cold front sweeping through by Wednesday evening will bring another taste of fall for the end of the work week.

Highs will remain in the low 80s on Wednesday ahead of the incoming cold front. As this front passes on through the Stateline, an isolated shower or two is possible, mainly south of I-88. Models however have been consistent with atmospheric lift and moisture being very low with this front. So, that is why it's not bringing much of a rain chance to the Stateline. On the flip-side, it does allow cooler air to spill across the region from the north, bringing another taste of fall before fall "officially" begins in 7 days. Cooler days and cooler nights lie ahead, as highs will plummet from the low 80s tomorrow, down into the 60s starting Thursday. Following Wednesday's cold front, another area of high pressure will settle in, keeping rain chances at bay. Highs seem to remain in the 60s not only for Friday, but into the first half of the weekend.