Will smoke smother out the World Cup final? Here’s the forecast

Dense smoke is suffocating much of the Northeast on Friday, and with air quality alerts warning against outside activity, the question looming is just as thick as the smoke itself: Will the air pollution be a problem for the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon in New York City?

No one cheers for a rainy weekend, but in this case it looks like it might save the day.

A storm system will bring rain to the Northeast on Saturday afternoon and evening, which will help to wash out the smoke from the skies and temporarily shift the winds so they are not blowing from the fire zone in southern Ontario and northern Minnesota.

The storm system that will push through the Northeast on Saturday is currently moving over the fire zones near the Minnesota-Canada border this morning. It should tamp down the fires and the smoke they produce, helping the overall air quality in the days to come.

The storms in New York City Saturday afternoon and evening could produce some heavy downpours and a risk for brief flash flooding in urban areas, but should clear the area by Sunday morning.

That should set the stage for pleasant conditions on Sunday afternoon for the match between Argentina and Spain, with temperatures in the low 80s. Skies should be clear, though potentially still hazy from lingering smoke less close to the ground.

Bottom line: Air quality won’t be perfect, but it should be much better than the past couple of days.