A cooldown begins Wednesday as a strong front from Siberia moves southeast across the Mainland. Southwest winds increase through Wednesday and will become quite gusty, with widespread 15 to 25 mph winds and gusts to 35 to 40 mph over the higher elevations and the Northern Interior (areas from the White Mountains and northward), by Wednesday afternoon. This will increase ventilation rates and will continue to result in some improvement in air quality over the Interior, but there will still be active wildfires, so smoke will not completely go away. Chances for rain increase Wednesday and Wednesday night and into the 4th of July holiday, with periods of rain continuing into the weekend as successive waves of moisture move inland. Temperatures will be near seasonal norms on Wednesday and will drop below seasonal norms by late week. Periods of rainfall will likely continue through the weekend, with widespread rainfall totals of 0.75 to 1.5 inches, highest over higher terrain, with slightly less rainfall in the dry areas in a westerly flow regime, such as the Yukon Flats and SE Interior. Stay tuned to the latest forecast updates at www.weather.gov/afg
