HAZY SUNDAY....

A cold front moved through the region Saturday night and will lead to a sunny day on Sunday. However, blue skies have been hard to come by recently due to smoke from wildfires to our north and west.

After cold fronts pass through you usually have subsidence, or sinking air. This is because cooler air is moving in and colder air sinks. This sinking air, plus a northerly wind, will likely bring in more smoke on Sunday and could also pull it down closer to the surface. This is due to wildfires up in Canada right now.

Here's the air quality forecast from AirNow.gov for Sunday:

It's possible air quality could end up being worse if the smoke gets brought down to the surface. If you're sensitive to those changes in air quality make sure you're limiting your time outside on Sunday.

Here's a photo from Thursday evening, when the smoke was getting very thick, via Mark Brown:

Unfortunately these hazy skies will likely be our future for a while as northwest flow in the atmosphere persists through much of the upcoming week. High pressure in the western U.S. will be prevalent in the upper levels

This northwest flow will also lead to the dry conditions persisting. Rain will be tough to come by since we're cut off from our typical moisture source of the Gulf of Mexico.

Here's a look at precipitation through Friday on the European mode. (The rainfall totals in parts of Illinoi sis from late Friday/Saturday):

Temperatures and the humidity will also be held at bay for a few days, a nice break after a hot week!

High temperatures Sunday:

And Monday:

Both days will feature temperatures below normal, sunshine, and low humidity... which should feel great for the first few days of August.

RK