Smoke from Northwest Fires Heads West

For much of the summer, Seattle, WA and the areas around the Puget Sound enjoy the blessings of a pleasantly cool, maritime airmass, but every now and then the flow shifts to offshore and temperatures rise dramatically as warmer continental air spreads west and descends down the west slopes of the Cascade Mountains.  With fires east of the Cascades, the offshore flow is not only unseasonably warm, but smoky.  Check out in particular the difference in the MODIS imagery from yesterday (top) to today (bottom). 

Combined with temperatures in the 90s, Seattle looks (and feels) more like Salt Lake City today.