Keep an eye to the sky: Wildfires cause hazy skies over Mass.

As wildfires across the Canadian Rockies and Intermountain West rage on, smoke generated by those fires has traveled to New England.

As plumes of smoke drift in, air quality will be reduced for sensitive groups like asthmatics and anyone who has a respiratory illness.

Underneath partly cloudy and dim skies, high temperatures will approach 80 degrees Thursday. The dim skies will darken into the early afternoon with rain approaching around 2 p.m.

This will turn into a stronger thunderstorm threat for the evening, too, around 5 p.m. Most of the activity should be just below severe limits or criteria and diminishing before midnight.

Friday brings another renewed chance of hazy skies from wildfire smoke entrained throughout the jet stream, but the day will be dry. Friday's highs are in the low 80s, with mid-80s for Saturday.

The weekend is mostly intact with sunshine, but clouds will creep in Sunday evening, with rain returning regionwide on Monday.