Labor Day weekend in Sonoma County expected to be busy, cool and mostly free of haze

Be it the predictions of great weather, the three-day weekend or the honorary end of the summer season, Labor Day in the North Bay is likely to be anything but quiet.

“All signs point to a very busy Labor Day weekend of travel,” said John Treanor, spokesperson for AAA Northern California.

He said AAA has noticed people have a real appetite for travel during these times of the year since they are eager to get back to the seasonal pattern of life they once enjoyed before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even the increased price of gas, which Treanor said is notably higher this year than this time last year, won’t keep people at home.

As of Thursday, according to GasBuddy.com, prices for regular unleaded across Sonoma County ranged from:

• $4.48 per gallon at the Quik Stop on North Cloverdale Boulevard in Cloverdale;
• $5.11 per gallon at the Safeway gas station on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa;
• $5.29 per gallon at the Shell station on Dutton Avenue near Highway 12 in Santa Rosa;
• $5.49 per gallon at the Chevron on Lakeville Street in Petaluma.

Treanor said this year’s increased gas prices can be attributed to “a very active hurricane season, and it's very, very hot weather around the West. Both of those things affect how much oil refineries can produce.”

Decreased production, he added, have caused the recent upswings in gas prices.

For Leslie Silva, an 18-year-old nursing major at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, this weekend is all about spending time with friends.

She said Thursday that they plan to go camping this weekend in Klamath National Forest, about four hours north near the Oregon border.Silva said she had a lot of fun this summer and is upset it’s coming to a close.

Amy Housman, 40, of Santa Rosa said she’ll be getting ready to go back to school.

A teacher, Housman said even though summer technically ends on Sept. 22, Labor Day means it’s very much at an end for her.

That’s why her Labor Day weekend will be devoted to self-care. She said she plans to attend yoga class in Point Reyes and enjoy some paddle boarding or kayaking — likely at Lake Sonoma west of Cloverdale.

She said fire season has had her feeling anxious, especially with the haze in the air this week from blazes in Northern California and Oregon.

Houseman added that she’s ready for some cooler temperatures.

On Saturday and Sunday, high temperatures will be in the mid- to low 70s, then creep up into the low 80s on Monday, according to meteorologist Dalton Behringer, with the National Weather Service’s Monterey office.

The smoky skies will clear out, he said, when onshore westerly winds pick up late Friday and continue into Saturday. No red flag warnings are predicted for the weekend, though.

Not everyone, however will get to enjoy the long weekend

Bus driver, Francisco Ortego, 71, said he works on Saturday, so he’ll be staying home on Sunday and Monday.

Motorists who opt to stay local will note that parts of westbound Interstate 80 will be closed this weekend between Highway 4 and Interstate 780.

Treanor said AAA is urging drivers to be aware of their local, “slow down, move over” laws. He added that they “shouldn't just get over because of the safety of someone else, but they need to get over because it's the law.”

Kathryn Styer Martínez is a reporting intern for the Press Democrat. She can be reached at kathryn.styermartinez@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5337.