"What will the wildfire smoke be like this year for the Great Lakes? I have asthma and feel like I'm stuck in the house most of the time." - Carol

That’s on my mind, as well, as a fellow “Great Laker.”

We may have smoke episodes this summer in the Great Lakes, but it may not be as widespread a problem as recent summers.

In the past several years, we’ve seen lofted smoke from western U.S. and Canada wildfires blown into the Midwest and Northeast, at times.

We do expect a hotter, drier rest of summer in the Northwest U.S. That could extend into western Canada, though drought conditions headed into summer weren’t as bad and widespread as recent years, there.

That could lead to conditions conducive for wildfires.

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In a typical summer with a developing El Niño like we have now, winds above the ground over the Midwest are often out of the northwest. That could bring some wildfire smoke from these areas.

And if it suddenly turns hot and dry over the Northern Plains and Midwest, as is forecast over the next couple weeks, that could quickly parch the soil and make conditions favorable for wildfires closer to the Great Lakes.

If large enough, those closer-to-home wildfires would be more likely to produce ground-level smoke affecting the Great Lakes.

One hopeful sign is that while there have been more Canadian wildfires than usual this year, they’ve been smaller, burning much less land than average.

So, let’s keep our fingers crossed that this summer won’t have wildfire smoke a summer cold front in the Midwest and Northeast.