Canyon Fire filling SLO County skies with smoke

San Luis Obispo County residents should expect to see dim, hazy skies through Wednesday morning as smoke from the Canyon Fire at Vandenberg Air Force Base streams northward.

PG&E meteorologist John Lindsey said winds out of the southeast are to blame for the conditions, which are mixing with a heavy marine layer and higher-altitude subtropical clouds.

“It truly is a complex weather pattern ... got a lot going on,” Lindsey said. “(The smoke) will probably make it as far north as the (Soberanes Fire) burning in Monterey County.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the pattern should flip with winds shifting out of the northwest and pushing smoke away from SLO County.

Lindsey said those conditions will gain strength, and by Thursday afternoon, he’s forecasting moderate gale force to fresh gale force winds ranging from 32 mph to 46 mph with gusts as high as 55 mph along the coast.

That could be bad news for firefighters, he said.

Temperatures, which will cool substantially during the middle of the week, will warm up again this weekend, but not to the record-breaking levels from last weekend.

The North County will go from triple-digit highs this past Sunday to highs in the mid-70s on Thursday back to highs in the 90s this coming Sunday.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Canyon Fire filling SLO County skies with smoke."