North Dakotans looking for a break in the heat wave are getting some relief in the coming days.
Tommy Grafenauer is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Forks. He says most of the region will have lower heat indexes over the weekend, and falling temperatures into next week.
"Most of the region, the Dakotas, northwest and west central Minnesota, and other surrounding areas - heat index values during the day should be more in the low 90s or even in the 80s, due to a combination of slightly cooler temperatures and lower humidity. So it's a break from the oppressive heat we've had this past week."
Wildfires in Ontario and northern Minnesota are contributing to extremely poor air quality in the Red River Valley. Grafenauer says hopefully a shift in the winds will improve conditions on the ground.
"We do anticipate that at some point this evening, or overnight, winds to switch to more south and westerly - hopefully to push that surface smoke to the east, by some point on Friday or at the latest, into Saturday. But with that said, forecasting where the smoke is going to be and what the air quality is going to be is a difficult maneuver."
Grafenauer says when air quality reaches these levels, it’s best to avoid being outside.
