On what would otherwise be a fairly clear day, the downtown Los Angeles skyline is obscured by smoke from wildfires in the Angeles National Forest, seen from the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Tropical moisture is giving firefighters a little break, but making for poor air quality over portions of California into Friday.
Cloud cover, higher humidity and spotty rain are taking the edge of the fire weather for a couple of days.
According to Western Weather Expert Ken Clark, "Leftover moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm John several hundred miles to the southwest in the eastern Pacific was being flung northeastward into portions of California."
Winds over the region remain relatively light.
The combination of weather factors may allow firefighters to get the upper hand on the San Gabriel Fire burning north of Los Angeles a little earlier than expected. Early this week, officials were concerned the blaze would not be under control until early next week.
The light winds, cloud cover and higher humidity are not allowing the smoke to disperse as it normally would. Air quality will remain an issue in many surrounding areas surrounding the blaze through the balance of the week as a result.
In this sort of pattern, some areas will pick up enough rain to moisten the brush, while many areas will not receive enough rain to make much of a difference in the prevailing dry conditions.
"On the fringe of the moisture, mainly dry thunderstorms will bring the risk of lightning-induced wildfires," Clark said.
Away from the effect of John's cloud cover, temperatures will continue to average above normal over the interior West and farther north.
Meanwhile, folks in Texas and the southern Plains are awaiting a welcome break from summer-long heat starting this weekend. Much cooler from Canada will build southward momentum later this week.
Severe thunderstorms with the risk of a few tornadoes will advance eastward across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest into Friday.
A dangerous outbreak of severe storms will strike the northern High Plains and Canadian Prairies on Wednesday.
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Evacuations and closed roads as wildfires continue to burn across the United States.
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A hot and humid weekend is shaping up for Chicagoland just in time for the official start of summer, while severe thunderstorms fire nearby to the north.
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Amwell, NJ (1742)
A fatal hailstorm and severe thunderstorm
containing hail 4" in diameter killed one
child and did considerable damage to crops.
New Brunswick, NJ (1835)
Great New Brunswick Tornado; 5 dead, 17-mile
path through the center of town; in all, 145
buildings were damaged. This is the worst tornado
catastrophe in New Jersey history to date.
Southeast China (1932)
Hailstorm in Hunan Province killed 20 people
and injured thousands of others.
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