WILLITS, 9/8/20 — Air quality in Willits has reached “hazardous” levels as smoke from the August Complex fires, the Oak Fire, and others across California blanket the valley. Poor air quality conditions are forecasted to stick around for the next 24 hours.
Most of the smoke is drifting over from the August Complex, as north and east winds push the smoke out of the National Forest and into the rest of Mendocino County. So much smoke covers the valley that cars are driving with headlights on and temperatures have dropped to below 70 degrees in the midst of a continued heat wave. Outside the light is so low that it appears to be dusk, even though it is 2 in the afternoon. As of 2:40 p.m. it appeared almost as dark as night in Willits, with visibility down to about the brightness of the full moon.
The government’s Air Now website shows an air quality index (AQI, a measure of air quality) at 375, or hazardous. However, an alternative service, PurpleAir, which allows people to install their own air monitors and thus has more locations to record data from, has shown air quality measurements above 400 in downtown Willits. Under these circumstances all people who can are advised to stay indoors and if possible run air filters, or AC, while people who have to be outside should try to wear n95 masks if possible.
The government’s Air Now website shows an air quality index (AQI, a measure of air quality) at 375, or hazardous. However, an alternative service, PurpleAir, which allows people to install their own air monitors and thus has more locations to record data from, has shown air quality measurements above 400 in downtown Willits. Under these circumstances all people who can are advised to stay indoors and if possible run air filters, or AC, while people who have to be outside should try to wear n95 masks if possible.
The poor air quality extends far beyond Willits. Air Now’s interactive map shows large swaths of California experiencing severely diminished air quality. Many areas in the state are currently categorized by the AQI as hazardous, very unhealthy, unhealthy, unhealthy for sensitive groups, or moderate. Each of these categories comes with health warnings. Only a few narrow coastal strips are being spared the dangerous air.
Air quality in Mendocino County according to PurpleAir, as of about 3 p.m. was:
- Willits: 442, hazardous
- Ukiah: 172, unhealthy
- Philo: 61, moderate
- Fort Bragg: 41, good
- Redwood Valley: 180, unhealthy
A National Weather Service smoke forecast map shows heavy near surface smoke sticking around in inland Mendocino for the next 24 hours.
Apparently the monitors didn’t happen to make it out to Inglenook or the Ten Mile bridge this afternoon or evening where the sky was an orange brown thick haze. Sunset came early out this way tonight – about 2 hours earlier than normal. I’d say the air was and is still presently in a hazardous state in this part of Mendocino county. Certainly not as good as the rest of Fort Bragg…
I aveww
I agree 10 mile and inglenook was almost as bad as when i drove through willits. Fort bragg had it easy relatively speaking. And i would also say that at the peak inglenook was worse then ukiah.