WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (KRON) — Hazy skies descending on the Bay Area. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is alerting residents of the North and East Bays of impacts from wildfires in Northern California.
The district said smoke from the McFarland, Monument, and River Complex fires will cause smoky, hazy skies – particularly in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties.
Check the air quality in your area with the map below:
The smokiness was expected to last until Friday, but the district extended the advisory until Saturday.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District continues to monitor the air quality across the region and says that onshore winds are expected to pick up Friday afternoon.
“So the smoke is actually not affecting us on ground level meaning most of the different air quality monitors that we’re reading are in the moderate and good range so there’s no real unhealthy sensitive groups or unhealthy air quality in the Bay Area as of right now but the meteorologists don’t feel comfortable calling it a multiple-day forecasts they want to take it one day at a time to see how it goes,” Walter Wallace, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said.
The advisory said smoke is aloft, but not expected to cause unhealthy air quality.
However, Bay Area residents are advised to stay inside with the windows and doors closed if they smell smoke.
“For higher elevation, we tell people if you smell smoke you’re probably being affected and so if that’s the case you can take those preventative measures such as staying indoors, having the windows and doors closed as long as the heat allows, creating a clean air room and things like that,” Wallace said.
Those impacted by the smoke are advised to set air conditioning units and car vents to re-circulate the air in order to prevent smoke from coming in.
Smoky air can cause eye and sinus irritation, coughing, and a scratchy throat.