Air quality continues to be an issue for Northern California and the Central Valley. An air quality alert has been issued for the San Joaquin Valley until the fires are extinguished near Yosemite. The Creek Fire and SQF Complex Fire have been causing unhealthy to hazardous air for San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and portions of Kern counties.
High pressure over the west coast will bring calm to light winds, keeping pollutants almost stagnant for many valley spots through Saturday. By Saturday evening, air conditions may improve to "unhealthy for sensitive groups."
Saturday evening winds will slightly pick up to a light breeze of 4 mph to 10 mph inland. Areas around the coastal ranges into Santa Rose and Napa/Sonoma Counties may see winds closer to 15 mph to 20 mph. This still won’t be a major concern even as wildfires burn in the area. A Fire Weather Warning has expired for the Glass Fire as of Saturday morning.
Change is on the way. As the high pressure overhead weakens and shifts east, this will allow for more cool air to move through the delta. Temperatures will gradually drop and air quality will begin to improve as early as Sunday morning.
Expect weather conditions to continually improve through the work week as air quality becomes moderate to good, and temperatures reach the 80s by Wednesday.
A chance of showers are in the forecast for the following weekend.
2020's fire season could still deliver bigger and deadlier fires than we've already seen.