Smoke Season
 

The first big fires of the season are upon us, and the smoke is getting thicker.

With the current drought and heat, this season could be a doozy.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...131eb4ec94.png
NOAA-HRRR Smoke

Our fire season hasn't come yet. But, we've had a very HOT June, so it is a concern.

I just hope the 4th of July celebrations don't get out of control. We need to just stop making fire and rockets for the 4th.

Fortunately I have my COVID mask. A few tweaks, and it will be ready to go!!!

I'm busy working on cleanup around the house.

For the time being, the wind direction has been SW, so let's hope it continues. Once we get the offshore flow, all of that smoke will be coming right down on top of us. Those fires up north, even into BC will be getting way worse before they get better, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the continued robust marine layer and onshore winds. Also have to hope for a few systems to move through the area and help extinguish some of the fires, not likely in CA, but possible in the PNW and BC.

I was able to buy a case of N95 "cool flow" valved masks. These work better than standard N95's for riding, and are more easily available now that people aren't hoarding them for Covid. Last year I had a couple of old ones I used over and over, they got pretty crusty by the end of the season lol.

Sad that there is now a reliable "fire/smoke" season in which the air quality is downright dangerous for 3-4 months every year...

The one in Oregon is absolutely monstrous! Imagine if we get offshore winds, ugh! The marine influence this year has been very impressive, apart from a few (extreme) heatwaves, this summer has been mostly pleasant in the immediate Bay Area. Fingers crossed!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9ae0917d06.jpg

Death cancelled this morning. Riders and locals evacuated overnight for big fire.

I spent the weekend camping on a reservoir off of Route 4 on the other side of Ebbett's pass from this (Tamarack fire.) The smoke and pyrocumulonimbus cloud were impressive to see up close, in part because it would change dramatically throughout the day/weekend as the fire grew in different areas and the smoke shifted with changing winds. Spending the weekend puttering around on a beautiful Sierra reservoir while a huge fire rages in the distance was... very on brand for 2021.

So glad we made it through last night's red flag warning without much action around the bay! ...For now...

We were in Tahoe this weekend and got a spectacular view of the pyrocumulonimbus from Ellis Peak. Lucky for the folks at the lake that the wind pushed all the smoke NE. Not so lucky for folks in Reno, as we discovered on Sunday when we walked around the UNR campus.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a05561082.jpeg

Thank goodness the winds are still onshore! Once September hits, everything will reverse and we'll be in proper smoke season...unfortunately this looks to be a realible reality for a few months every year for the foreseeable future.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...02b30a420c.png

Tomorrow it starts...smoke is forecast for the Bay Area, as winds will be out of the north. F this!

Smoke forecast for today (2021-08-06). Not pretty:


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...171b9ea69c.gif
https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/#

Smoke smell very obvious here in the east bay. Lucky I’m back home now. Hiding inside now.

Yeah, Bay Area has been lucky up til now... that's over for sure.

Sensors all in the red in Sacramento now.

I'm over on the peninsula just south of Palo Alto. Out on a ride at sunup this morning and the sun was a beautiful, intense orange with a good hint of red. Slight smell of smoke in the air for the first time. Timing isn't too bad. I have some work on my bike I need to do. Now I don't have to feel guilty about missing my rides during the week.

A friend's nephew started a thru-hike of the PCT back in May. He's had to skip a bunch of miles of the PCT due to the fires in CA. He's up near Bend, OR now and has been OK until he makes it another 10-20 mi. north. Then he has to side-step again. Have no idea what he's in for in WA :(

People use to laugh when I told them Calif. has 4 seasons: Rainy, fire, mudslides and earthquakes (this last one isn't quite as seasonal as the other 3)

Holy burning embers.....

Can't see the hills from our home in Napa Valley. Getting tired of breathing the smoky air :( I haven't yet but tomorrow I will wear my N95 mask for a ride and see how
it goes.

cthenn, thanks for the info on the masks with a valve. I will see if I can find some.

Between the pandemic and the smoky air we almost need to wear the flippln masks all the time :cry:

last year I rode with a thin sleeve
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...db47397c1d.jpg
it served double duty on dusty roads
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2cc915d840.jpg
but it does restrict airflow, for example when climbing hills or sprinting
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...de9c6dd611.jpg

I was glad to ditch it this year. you guys have my sympathies

Same here, I can normally see Skyline park out the kitchen window. Now it's just grey.

I'm just back from 2 weeks with family in Ireland. It rained each day, but never so weather would have stopped me riding. Now I'm back in CA and smoke is going to keep me indoors until it rains again.

Woke up this morning to the whole Peninsula covered in yellow dots on Purple Air. Uniformly in the mid 60s, it seemed. The last 3 hours, it's been fun checking in every half hour or so and seeing the air clear from the West, starting in HMB, and then the hills, and finally moving through the Crystal Springs Gap and pushing into San Mateo.

Another BFer and I have a Classic and Vintage focused ride scheduled for tomorrow morning (anyone with any bike invited!), so we'll see how things look. We agreed that we'd call it off if any sensor on the route is registering >100.

It looks like those winds will clear out the Bay Area by tomorrow morning so your ride can go as planned.

I postponed my ride this morning since I was out around 5:30AM (for other things) and the air was already brown with the sun struggling to peak through, and it was less overcast and more smoke (cough, cough).

Intending to do a hike in the Santa Cruz Mtns. on Sun. AM and it looks good for then, as well.

Thankfully, we've had a relentless onshore wind at the coast and inner bay regions. I live over the hill, and we've been stuck in the mid 100's this week, whereas on the other side of the Caldecott, the numbers have been in the 60'ish range. I moved my usual after work Diablo ride to the Berkeley Hills, and it was much better. Very cool and breezy, it was actually nice to ride on that side of the hill during the week in the evening. Fingers crossed that the bike thefts over there have subsided, it was definitely on my mind with so much less traffic (although there were still plenty of speeding commuters!)

So far we've been slightly lucky compared to last year, even with the smoke we're getting now, it's not in the red zone too much (yet).

Well, those plans were short-lived. It's 6:30AM and looks like AQI is already 100+ in the south county and where I wanted to go hiking. Too old to risk doing any more damage to my lungs (considering what my dad's smoking did to me growing up :( Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Stay safe and healthy everyone.....

Yeah and I thought they said it was going to be gone by last night. We're already over 100 here!! Be safe!

I checked last night before bed, and it was rising.

GORGEOUS day for riding on the Peninsula today!!! AQIs in the single digits a lot of the way (LRAPA-adjusted), high altitude smoke gone, not too warm. I'm learning to treasure these days, since they may be rare for the next couple months.