Heat, smoke, wind and possible storms

Happy Wednesday! It's a challenging day on the High Desert with more heat, smoke and windy conditions.  We also have a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.  The likelihood of relief from any rain is low while the probability of lightning strikes is high resulting in a continued Red Flag Warning in our area. Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories also remain in effect, as well, through Thursday.   

Haze returned to Central Oregon yesterday evening due to a westerly flow and will continue to affect us for the next few days.  Smoky conditions in Deschutes, Crook and southern Grant Counties should also play a role in keeping temperatures a few degrees cooler during the next 12 hours. 

The National Weather Service and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality have placed Deschutes, Klamath and Lane Counties under an Air Quality Alert until late Thursday. This is due to the smoke coming in from locations to our west. 

Moderately breezy conditions this morning will pick up in speed this afternoon with some areas seeing gusts up to 20mph.

Highs will stay in the upper 90s with triple digit temperatures still rampant.  Overnight lows in the middle to upper 60s, however, we are beginning to see some relief from the heat by this weekend.

Don't forget to download our free KTVZ Local Alert Weather app for the most current conditions and we'll help keep you safe with customizable alerts.

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