SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The Bay Area, blinded by a blanket of smoky fog on Friday, is feeling the most impact of poor air quality from California wildfires toward the end of the week.
And while people are finding it hard to even stand out in the Friday smog — the San Francisco 49ers are playing their opening NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at home Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The Bay Area Air District tweeted Friday that we’re feeling “widespread Unhealthy & Very Unhealthy conditions.” It’s even impairing visibility.
However, whether or not the Sunday game stays on is up to the NFL itself. According to the 49ers Executive Vice President and Stadium Manager, current conversations about the upcoming opener say it’s still on.
“We look at the air quality and the forecast associated with it,” Jim Mercurio said, but a decision on rescheduling, postponing or canceling has to follow regulations and, “all of that rests with the National Football League.”
He added that the players seem fine with playing Sunday. The issue is with an “exposure for a longer period of time as I understand it,” Mercurio said, “but thankfully for this Sunday I think we’re in decent enough shape.”
The National Weather Service Bay Area said conditions are expected to improve later this weekend and early next week as a dry storm approaches.