Poor air quality in Sonoma County won’t clear until at least Saturday, meteorologists say

Though additional smoke is not expected in the North Bay, residents will continue to see haze and experience poor air quality through Friday and possibly Saturday, officials said.

The dry northerly wind that pushed smoke hundreds of miles south for Oregon and Northern California fires slowed Thursday morning and began shifting west, bringing in more humid and wet air, National Weather Service meteorologist Dalton Behringer said Friday.

The shifting wind is also why weather service meteorologists called off the red flag warning for the North Bay interior mountains a few hours early Thursday afternoon.

The smoke already in the area, however, will likely rest in a stalemate due to the strong marine layer continuing to block it in.

The smoke will lightly dissipate through Friday and early Saturday until it is pushed out Saturday night by winds connected to the incoming storm brewing off the Pacific Northwest coast.

By about 9 a.m. Friday, all air quality indexes in Sonoma County hovered around 150, which can cause negative health effects for residents, according to PurpleAir. This is higher than the previous three days where areas near the coast saw numbers closer to the 100s.

Weather and medical professionals recommend that individuals remain indoors as much as possible, wear an N95 mask and keep windows closed to avoid breathing in too much of the smoke.

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @madi.smals.