Wildfire smoke, high temps expected this weekend in Iowa

More wildfire smoke from Canada is set to descend on Iowa on Friday, but it won’t be as dense as it was earlier this summer, according to the National Weather Service.

It’s also going to be hot, with temperatures forecast in the mid- to upper 90s Saturday through at least Tuesday and possibly later into the week.

“The current upper-level weather pattern is bringing smoke down from south-central Canada into portions of Minnesota and northern parts of Iowa, and that’s expected to hit the Cedar Rapids area on Friday. We could see some hazy skies,” said Tim Gross, a meteorologist with the Quad Cities National Weather Service.

Gross said most of the smoke should remain aloft, meaning that while skies will be visibly hazy, the smoke shouldn’t be low enough to smell like wood burning or to affect breathing.

For anyone concerned about air quality, Gross recommended checking air quality forecasts at airnow.gov.

The heat wave expected this weekend is unrelated to the smoke, Gross said. It’s instead coming from a large “heat dome” developing across the country, roughly centered over Kansas City.

Though temperatures are expected to be in the mid- to upper 90s in the Cedar Rapids area, the high humidity will push the heat index, or the “feels like” temperature, above 100, Gross said.

The last excessive heat warning in the Cedar Rapids area was issued July 28.

High heat is more common at the end of July and in early August in Iowa, so this weekend’s temperatures aren’t abnormal, Gross said.

The good news? It’s possible, he said, this is the last heat wave of the summer.

Cedar Rapids cooling stations

The Linn County Emergency Management Agency has a list online of heat relief locations across the county, including these in Cedar Rapids:

Iowa City cooling stations

The Johnson County Emergency Management list of heat relief locations is published on cities’ websites and social media accounts. Normal hours may be extended at the locations if a heat advisory issued.

Cooling stations during the last heat wave in July included these in Iowa City:

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