After several days of staring through a brown haze, people across western Oregon may finally be able to open a window and see the hills again.
Wildfire smoke that settled over Portland, Salem, Eugene and much of the Willamette Valley is expected to begin thinning Thursday afternoon, with a more noticeable improvement arriving Thursday evening and continuing into Friday.
The change comes as winds turn back toward the ocean and begin carrying cooler, cleaner Pacific air inland. That onshore flow should gradually push the thickest smoke east of the Cascade Range, according to the National Weather Service…