Evening breezes increase as heat breaks for the second half of the week

THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – Happy Wednesday! Vast improvements to our temperatures, moisture, and air quality are on the way, but some breezes could pick up each night as we see a slight pattern shift.

By and large, we've seen significant improvements when it comes to the smell of wildfire smoke and our air quality since activity on the Shore Fire became a lot quieter. Still, we're keeping a close eye on an Air Quality Alert due to wildfire smoke from the South Coast AQMD, which is in place for the Coachella Valley through Thursday evening. A bit of haze can be seen filtering into the valley from wildfire cameras overlooking the San Gorgonio Pass, as seen below.

Air quality maps still indicate improved conditions. We're seeing mostly good to moderate air quality locally.

Air quality could dip a little bit tonight with an added factor: blowing dust and sand. There are no active wind advisories in our area, but evening winds are expected to strengthen more than what we've seen in previous days. Expect gusts near 40-50 MPH through the pass.

A weak low pressure system passing through our area is generating the increased onshore flow + winds. That also means slightly cooler temperatures! It won't be as hot as it's been the past few days. We're still warming quickly, but expect to top out well below the 110°F mark.

Our cooling trend will take us just above the century mark for the weekend. Be sure to take advantage of the more mild conditions as you celebrate Father's Day! The cooldown is rather short-lived, as we'll be ramping the temperatures back up by midweek next week. The National Weather Service warns of potential major HeatRisk as temperatures could climb to 10 degrees or more above normal.

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