have fun, relax, but above all ARGUE!
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I haven't tried to figure out what the numbers mean. I'm not a scientist so I just look at the color. I'd understand it better it they used a cigarette per hour index. In other words, at this level if you went outdoors for an hour it would be the equivalent of smoking 2 cigarettes. Then I could gauge the risk much better with my simple mind.ex-khobar Andy wrote: ↑Mon Aug 24, 2020 11:35 pmI'm a little puzzled by those numbers. PM10 is the concentration of particles less than 10 microns and PM2.5 is the concentration of particles less than 2.5 microns, in micrograms per cubic meter. So PM10 - unless they have changed it since my day - includes PM2.5 so the PM10 number should be greater than the PM2.5 number.
AQI rose above 300 in far East Bay yesterday, could happen again today
By Amy Graff, SFGATE Updated 1:20 pm PDT, Monday, August 24, 2020
Air quality reached "unhealthy" levels across the East Bay Sunday afternoon, with some isolated locations in the "hazardous" zone, that's represented by a deep purple color on the Bay area Air Quality Management District. Similar conditions could unfold Monday.
The worst air quality was around Livermore where the AQI reached a high of 327 micrograms per cubic units, the highest reading the Bay Area has seen since wildfires sparked over a week ago.
"It’s off the charts," said Christina Chu, a spokesperson with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. "It means that everybody — not just people with preexisting health conditions, pregnant women, children and seniors — literally everyone should take precautions to stay healthy and safe, go indoors, close windows. When you see it get to that level, it really is dangerous. It really doesn’t get to that level very often."
The Air Quality Index operates on a scale from 0 to 500. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern. An AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality, while an AQI value over 300 signals hazardous conditions.
The Air District pulls its AQI data from sensors approved by the state, while the increasingly popular Purple Air app uses data from sensors people install outside their homes. These aren't regulated by the state.
Dozens of wildfires around the Bay Area continue to emit massive plumes of wildfire smoke, spreading sooty air across the region Sunday.
Will conditions improve any time soon?
"I would love to say 'yes' to that question, but my concern is we have so many fires in the area that until they’re really out, we’re going to continue to get smoke," Cindy Palmer, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Monterey, said.
On Monday morning, smoke was widespread and Chu said the Air District readings revealed that conditions were slightly better compared to Sunday.
"There is a lot of unhealthy air quality in the East Bay, especially, Livermore, Antioch and Vacaville," she said. "Coastal areas over San Mateo County are still unhealthy due to the CZU August Lightning Complex fires but it’s an improvement over yesterday. We will have pocks over Santa Clara County and North Bay still experiencing smoke from local fires in their area."
At 11 a.m., air quality in San Francisco, across much of the Peninsula and along the bay front in the East Bay was moderate, while the inland East Bay was mostly "unhealthy."
When air quality reaches "unhealthy," the air districts advises against exercising outside and says you should remain indoors entirely if you have respiratory disease such as asthma.
The smoke along the coast has tended to be the heaviest in the morning over the past week, with conditions improving in the late morning to afternoon when the ocean breeze picks up. The winds push the smoke east, and this is when the East Bay becomes socked in with sooty, choking air. This scenario is expected to occur again today, with the coast likely getting some relief this afternoon.
NWS forecaster David King said smoke may improve slightly along the coast Tuesday into Wednesday, due to a shift in weather. "An upper-level trough over the Pacific is making its way eastward and it will bring southwesterly flow aloft," King said. "That will hopefully help to move things east toward our eastern sector and help dissipate some smoke, but air quality could get worse in inland East Bay and Central Valley."
King added, the smoke forecast is also highly dependent on the status of the fires burning around the Bay Area. If the fire containment increases, conditions will improve.
"Every county has a fire except for San Francisco and that’s what creating all the smoke across the region," said Chu. "It’s not on the track to improve significantly today and tomorrow."
