Smoky skies remain in forecast for Northwest Ohio

Today's weather forecast for Northwest Ohio is mostly sunny, with a high near 83 degrees — and a haze of wildfire smoke. Since mid-week, the atmosphere high above the northwest corner of the state has been infiltrated with smoke from the wildfires on the West Coast and Canada, said Jim Sullivan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Cleveland. The smoke is causing a whitish-colored sky, accompanied by very colorful sunrises and sunsets, and an orange moon. The colorful displays, Sullivan said, are caused by the light filtering through the smoke. Sullivan said while it's not a common event, it's not unprecedented. He said the western United States endures a wildfire season every summer, and sometimes weather conditions allow the smoke to travel thousands of miles to the eastern U.S. "It's been happening more often the last two or three summers. The western states have wildfires every summer, but some years are worse than others," he said. This week, the smoke is being carried by a slow-moving high-pressure system. While high pressure is typically associated with clear skies, this week the skies have been milky due to the smoke. He said the smoke is very high up in the atmosphere and is not affecting air quality at the ground level in Ohio. "As you move closer to the fires, air quality does become an issue," he said. On Thursday, the National Interagency Fire Center reported 91 large wildfires in the West, burning 854,587 acres. More than 20,000 firefighters have been assigned to the fires. So far this year in the United States, a total of 6.7 million acres have burned, according to the center. The smoke is expected to linger over Ohio today and begin to head east into the weekend. "It's very slow moving and taking its time to move through," Sullivan said. Northwest Ohio can expect pleasant conditions this weekend, according to the forecast from the Cleveland weather service office. Skies are expected to be sunny on Saturday, with a high near 86 degrees and a light southwest wind. It will be partly cloudy Saturday night, with a low around 64, with light winds continuing out of the southwest. On Sunday, it's expected to be sunny with a high near 86 degrees. Nighttime showers are likely. It will be mostly cloudy Sunday night, with a low of around 67 degrees. The chance of precipitation is 60%.