Mostly sunny skies, warmer conditions and lingering smoke

Bend, Ore (KTVZ) – Warmer pattern on the way as we reach the middle and upper 60s today, with a chance for several days in a row of 70-degree conditions. The run of 70s will begin Wednesday as a ridge of high pressure migrated over the Pacific Northwest. This ridge is going to nose into the region and linger through the weekend.

Smoke from the prescribed burn SW of Sisters will continue to push particulate matter leading to deteriorating air quality. The levels improve in the heat of the day but will be trending toward hazardous air quality late at night and into the morning Wednesday.

The highs will be near 70 Wednesday with a few locations getting over that mark. Bend and Redmond will be a few degrees shy of that number, but still well above our normal 61 for this time of year.  Sunny skies are expected, so if you are out and about, make sure to bring along the sunscreen and shades.

Thursday will see the mercury in the thermometer reach the low 70s across Central Oregon under mostly sunny skies. The winds will be light as the regions feels more like June than late April.

Friday is the first day of May and our area will continue to be on the quiet side. There are two features developing in the eastern Pacific that will impact our weekend.  The ridge that got us on the warmer side of normal is still in place and will set up camp for another day, Saturday, before breaking down and heading east. This blocking high keeps an area of low pressure off the coast.

Sunday the high is over the northern Rockies and the low drops south off the coast of northern California. Bottom line is that we will be near 80 from Sunday through Tuesday.

A few clouds move in Monday afternoon and there is a chance for some showers to arrive on Tuesday. The showers should be mainly south of the Tri-Counties, but since the air is coming into Oregon from the SW or South, we should still stay in the 70s.

Please, Stay safe.

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