Air quality concerns increasing

We’re looking at another quiet day on Tuesday. Skies will be mostly sunny, and temperatures will be pretty close to normal. We’re forecasting highs in the middle-80s across the area.

While the weather won’t give us any trouble, wildfire smoke will create outdoor conditions that are far from ideal. The sky takes on a hazy appearance as early as Tuesday morning. However, it will take a little longer for the smoke to arrive closer to ground level.

By lunchtime, we’ll see higher levels of near-surface smoke moving into northern Nebraska. This will continue to spread south through the day. Lincoln will likely see the higher levels of near-surface smoke by late Tuesday afternoon and evening. Unfortunately, the smoke may linger into Wednesday for eastern parts of the state.

There is an Air Quality Alert for the northeast half of the state starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday and lasting through Noon Wednesday. There is a chance that the alert may need to be extended.

This will be something to keep in mind if heading out to Memorial Stadium on Wednesday for Volleyball Day in Nebraska. Again, the weather won’t give us any grief, but the air quality might.

Looking more long-term, the heat will return over Labor Day Weekend. Triple-digit temperatures will be possible for a few days, with the potential for near-record highs both on Sunday and Labor Day. There is one silver lining: it does not look like it’ll be as muggy as it was during last week’s heat wave.

Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

Facebook: /mbyronwx

Twitter: @mbyronwx