106 FXUS66 KHNX 211149 AFDHNX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Hanford CA 449 AM PDT Sat Aug 21 2021 .SYNOPSIS... Smoke and haze from surrounding wildfires will continue to bring poor air quality to the region. Below average temperatures will persist into the middle of next week. A warming trend with above average temperatures will return toward the end of next week. Dry conditions will persist the next 7 days. && .DISCUSSION... Heavy smoke from the French Fire in Kern county moved northward throughout most of the district on Friday. High resolution models indicate that winds aloft will become south to southwesterly as today progresses, helping direct smoke to the east of the area. However with weak low-level winds and limited mixing, air quality in the valley will remain poor. For today, a trough currently over Oregon will drop into the northern Great Basin. This trough then quickly ejects into the northern plains as another upper-level low moves into the PacNW on Sunday. There is good agreement between the ensembles showing a general long-wave trough pattern over the region into next Wednesday. Temperatures over the weekend through the middle of next week will remain slightly cooler than average, with mostly upper 80s to low 90s across the district. With winds aloft out of the west to southwest, smoke from the surrounding fires will be mostly directed to our north and east. From Wednesday into the end of the 7 day period next Saturday, ensembles show this long-wave trough pattern breaking down as a ridge of high pressure starts to expand over the eastern Pacific. This will lead to an increase in temperatures, back above average. Conditions will remain dry over the next 7 days. && .AVIATION... Areas of MVFR with local mountain obscured IFR visibilities in smoke and haze across a majority of the central California Interior will continue over the next 24 hours. && .AIR QUALITY ISSUES... Please see SFOAQAHNX for an Air Quality Alert On Saturday August 21 2021... Unhealthy in Fresno... Kings and Tulare Counties. Unhealthy for sensitive groups in Kern... Madera and Merced Counties and Sequoia National Park and Forest. Further information is available at Valleyair.org && .CERTAINTY... The level of certainty for days 1 and 2 is high. The level of certainty for days 3 through 7 is medium. Certainty levels include low...medium...and high. Please visit www.weather.gov/hnx/certainty.html for additional information an/or to provide feedback. && .HNX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ public...CMC aviation....BS weather.gov/hanford