EAGLE COUNTY – A combination of winds from the north-northwest and a lot of wildfires in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have put a haze into the Vail Valley. But relief is on the way.

The fires continue to burn, and some are very large – three fires in Idaho alone have burned nearly 600,000 acres – and there are dozens of others that have burned still more terrain, primarily in national forests.

The good news, at least for us, is that a shift in the winds is predicted, perhaps as soon as this weekend.

Jim Daniels, a forecaster at the National Weather Service’s Grand Junction office, said wind patterns should shift by the weekend, bringing wind more from the west. That pattern will shift to a south-southwest pattern next week.

Meanwhile, weather in the fire-plagued states is doing crews no favors, but cooler, drier air may provide some relief starting next week.