Air quality may get boost by weekend

A reprieve from the heat and smog in Clark County isn’t expected today but may come in time for the weekend.

Amanda Bowen, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said to expect little change in the weather today.

“I wouldn’t expect any real change until Friday,” she said.

That’s when the weather service predicts an upper ridge of high pressure is expected to move east and the weather returns to a southwesterly flow, which could help cool things down heading into the weekend.

The question is: Will it be enough to improve the air quality in the region, which has been poor as smoke from forest fires in British Columbia have created a haze over the metro region for the past week.

Air quality levels have been declared unhealthy for sensitive groups, and the Southwest Clean Air Agency, which enforces air quality standards in Southwest Washington, extended an air quality advisory for all of Southwest Washington until Friday.

Bowen said it’s uncertain whether the change in the weather will help clear out the smoke. That, she added, will depend on whether there are high winds as well as surface winds since the smoke has drifted here at higher altitudes.