Like the Bay Area, Mendocino County is suffering a spike in air pollution caused by chilly weather and an inversion layer that's keeping fireplace smoke and other pollutants low to the ground.
"We have been seeing the numbers go up," said Mendocino County Air Pollution Control Officer Chris Brown.
The number of tiny smoke-related pollution particles called PM2.5s found in the air in Ukiah and Willits in the past week is nearly double last year's levels, he said.
Some of the pollution likely is the result of increased wood burning as people try to ward off winter's chill. But the main problem is the weather. A series of inversion patterns have been keeping smoke from escaping. Inversions occur when layers of warm air trap and hold down layers of cold air.
Outdoor burning has been banned during most of December because of the inversions, but unlike counties to the south, there will be no attempts to stop indoor fires in Mendocino County. The county doesn't have a Spare the Air-type regulation program, which is mandated only in counties that regularly exceed air pollution standards.
Despite the sometimes cough-inducing haze of smoke hanging over its cities, Mendocino County's air quality remains relatively good.
The average reading in Willits between Dec. 20 and Dec. 28 was 19.4 micrograms per cubic meter. Last year it was 10.6. In Ukiah, it was 14.8 micrograms, up from 7.2 last year.
Bay Area readings that have air quality officials considering bans on wood-burning stoves and fireplaces include a 116 microgram per cubic meter reading in San Rafael. Santa Rosa's maximum reading was about 55 micrograms, Brown said.
In Lake County, where the air is famously clear, there's also been a pollution increase. But it's unremarkable. The PM2.5 level in Lakeport the week before Christmas peaked at 6.6 micrograms per cubic meter, said Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart.
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