Weather brief: Smoky skies, rain to come
Partial sunshine is bringing the city some relief from the onslaught of cold and fog lingering over the valley for the past two weeks. This afternoon, joggers and walkers strolled the Wetlands Edge, some even removing their jackets.
Enjoy it while you can: A long week of rain is projected to hit the area starting tomorrow, lasting for more than a week. With the rain, however, comes a break in the cold spell, with temperatures expected to stay in the mid-50s.
If you were out and about, you may have noticed the scent of fire along with a haze. According to CalFire representative Mike Wink, the smoky air is due to a number of controlled burns spanning from Geyserville to Sonoma.
“Smoke is laying down in all the valleys,” Wink said. “Because of the moisture in the air and the mixing height, sometimes, the smoke will go up and it hits a boundary, and it goes left to right instead of up.”
Every year in December, CalFire performs similar controlled burns. According to Wink, wetter winter conditions are a good time for the work. But this week, he said, fire crews miscalculated the level of moisture in the air, causing the smoke to spread around.
“No good deed goes unpunished,” said Wink. “[CalFire] anticipated everything would lift up. But I can see in the cameras that a lot of the smoke is settling in low-lying areas.” The coming rain is expected to clear up the smoke in the next couple days.
