Air Quality Improves, But Smoke Might Return Sunday

LAKEWOOD, WA - And just like that, the smoke cleared. The air quality around Puget Sound made a dramatic turnaround overnight Friday. On Friday afternoon, the region had some of the worst air quality ratings in the U.S. But by Saturday morning, the air was mostly free of smoke, and air quality ratings were good.

So good, in fact, that the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency lifted a stage-one burn ban - that means Western Washington residents can go back to grilling and using fire pits for now.

There is, however, a chance that the smoke from wildfires burning in British Columbia - and the fires are going strong - could return Sunday. A shift in wind and cloud-cover might bring the smoke back down to ground-level, according to University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass.

"Today is the good day for air quality around Puget Sound," he wrote in a Saturday blog post. "The onshore flow will weaken today and daytime mixing will bring the smoke down to the surface. Tomorrow (Sunday), the winds will be more northerly, which will lessen the inland movement of clean Pacific air and bring more smoke down from BC."

Temperatures were also relatively cool on Saturday, but that could also change. Temperatures are predicted to rise into the 90s Sunday and stay there through the week.

Image via National Weather Service