This has been one of the roughest years I can remember living here. We’ve had two massive wind storms (one of which damaged my Stevenson Screens used for the paint test), and lightning induced fires on a massive scale.
Life has become miserable here, the smoke is oppressive, it’s been this way for two weeks now. Here is the view outside my home just a few minutes ago, about 6:30PM PST
Compare that to this view on a clear day:
And this view out my front door, we don’t need a solar filter anymore to look at the sun:
Here is the view from space, via NOAA 1KM resolution visible light satellite imagery. Note that the entire Sacramento Valley is choked with smoke as is much of the Sierra Nevada and Western Nevada:
Smoke is everywhere, and to escape it, I either have to go to Oregon or to Southern California. Los Angeles has better air quality right now. I’m considering leaving town and taking my familiy there to stay with relatives for awhile. This smoke has been giving all of us headaches and breathing issues.
I was heartened today to find that firefighters from Canada, Australia and New Zealand are on their way to California.
My sincere thank you to all of them and to their families. We really need help here. La Nina has kicked us hard and we are losing the battle.
I’m very sorry to hear of your troubles. If you ever get tired of California, Michigan is… well I was going to say Michigan is nice. But that might be an exaggeration. Our winters really suck. This summer has been nice with comfortable temperatures, abundant rainfall and no flooding. Housing is cheap here too. And it would be great to get some intelligent folks moving in.
Firefighting is a lousy job. Immediate danger, long term health issues, little pay or recognition. And when they finish, charred earth. The only reward is knowing they’ve done a good job.
They are true heroes.
Anthony, get the family out for a few days or weeks. Some place with no smoke. North, south, whatever. If you needs funds, say so. We’ll all chip in.
Wow! They make bombers on Mars?
What?
Oh, MARTIN Mars…
Never mind.
🙂
We live in the Shenandoah Valley, an hours drive SE of Sacramento. Living in the foothills one realizes that it is not a matter of “if” you will ever have one of these fires at your place, but “when”.
Our plan, and recommendation for you, is to head north to Vancouver BC. Not only is it a beautiful place, the number and variety of restaurants is wonderful, especially the Chinese ones.
Here is a poem I wrote running away from a fire , somewhere in Greece a few years ago. We get regular and terrible fires here, too.
More power to you and your family.
—————-
Inferno
Gripping the wheel,
at midnight
I drive up the road
where the firestorm broke the barriers
and jumped across the canyon
to run down the hill to the sea
in a great joyful
all consuming roar,
of the pine tree’s orgasmic
moment of reproduction,
releasing a menacing
mushroom of a black cloud
over our heads
darkening the noon sun.
Left and right
the stumps of pines
outlined black
some still standing
as if whole
dried up in shock,
The whole mountain side
glows,
like a distant city,
lighted up
by the reluctant
olive trees
their core slowly
eaten away by embers.
The pines were old,
their sides gouged out
dripping resin tears
into tin catchers,
nailed to their trunks,
no young pines growing
in their stifling shade.
They reproduce by fire.
The old olive trees
have often been gutted by fire
maybe even before,
the first historic
persian invasions.
You can see them in the groves
the great great grandfathers of all,
with thick hollow
convoluted trunks.
The burned out stumps,
grow new shoots
in the spring
even the roots
throw out tender leaves,
claiming
eternal life.
It is to me
human transient
scampering away
in the small timescales
of my life
that the ecological disaster
seems complete,
as I drive through,
a walker on glowing embers
of the inferno.
Dang Anthony,
We went through that here in Alabama last year with the fires in south Georgia and north Florida. For a couple of months we were very bad and the drought kept the fires going. I had to advise my relatives in central Florida to stay home that year as the smoke was so bad.
If there are any health problems get better ac filters and keeeeeeeeep in side or head out to a better clime. Take care of the kiddies for sure.
Best of luck and
God bless,
Bill Derryberry
I disagree with the comment at the top, there is still quite a bit of smoke over not only the Bay Area but essentially the northern half to two thirds of California. It mixed out momentarily last night, but in the early AM after the wind stopped, it settled right back into a more orderly layer. Also, note that vintners are increasingly worried. First (and as noted some time ago by Anthony) there was the “endless winter” which resulted in a very late leaf out and bloom. And now, due to a combination of the sleepy sun, and since the Solstice, the smoke, fruit is not maturing rapidly enough to be on track. If insolation does not pick up soon, 2008 may be a disastrous vintage.
anna: . . .
To life!
Also related …. I was at a Longs Drugs a couple days ago. They shelves were bare of all 12 hour allergy OTC meds (including the Longs house brand) and 24 hour ones were getting very low. Due to smoke, and, very late blooming of certain flora.
I live near Boulder, CO, and we are even getting some haze from your fires the last couple days! I hope conditions improve soon, they certainly can’t get much worse than what you’ve seen the past couple weeks.
Looks a lot like ridgecrest at the moment… man this summer has been rough!
I worked in Sierras during some pretty bad fire seasons. I hate to say it but this will not end until this Fall or maybe Sep if its a cold year. You can always hope for a rare TS.
Getting away just for a few days was ALWAYS worth it!!
Anthony, it’s weird, I spent last weekend working with the B.C. Provincial Fire Control Officer rounding up personnel for California and now I’m reading about it on your wonderful blog. I couldn’t send anyone from the Prine George Fire Centre because we were dealing with a lightning fire bust that started around 100 fires. There were a lot of disappointed people up here. Everyone was willing to go. By the way the Martin Mars bomber has been in California for about a month working out of Lake Shasta. If you get the chance have a look at it, it’s the only one of it’s type left in the world. Good luck and glad we can help.
I live on the east side of the 500,000+ acre fire in SE Georgia/NE Florida from last year (which was just one of several that were burning). Y’all gonna be in smoky conditions for awhile.
Here’s a link to some NASA images that have made some news reports.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/fire_and_smoke.html
A HiRes version of most of CA is worth loading:
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/259337main_California_AMO_HI.jpg
There’s an interesting counter clockwise vortex between Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina Is. in the lower right corner.
I know we have three crews there from MN. 50-60 fighters, maybe more. The threat is very low here, so we are helping you guys out there.
Getting away for awhile is a good idea. Very unhealthy air around there.
Ric (14:42) I think they call that a “coastal eddy”. We sometimes get that here and usually means southerly onshore low clouds and wind.
I am in norther San Diego county and the weather here is a bit tropical; high, tropical looking clouds and very little wind (sw @3mph). No smoke at all here, but then we had enough last October.
Tony, when the smoke finally clears, and it will clear quickly with a weather change, the residue will be with you for months. The streets will be dirty from ash, and you should change your car’s airfilter several times over the next few months. Wear a breathing mask (the fancy double-paper ones from the hardware stores… if any are left) anytime you are outside regardless of whether you have asthma.
Good luck and hopefully no more homes will burn.
JZ no offense but tropical in SD if 79 in tropical we are closer than that in the OC but you are right that the southern coast is very comfortable right now only 81 today not like the valleys and the inland empire at 100+. Anthony if I can halp in some way there let me know.
please fix help DOH!
This is what happens when environ-mentalists block creation and maintenance of fireroads. Block the use of LARGE (see Russian water buffalo) water drops. Block the use of LARGE dozers in many areas. Fight small fires every year until the fuel load creates a firestorm that can’t be put out!!
http://www.fire.uni-freiburg.de/iffn/tech/tech_2.htm
http://www.ussr-airspace.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_39_38_101&products_id=2225
Either we need to let the fires burn themselves out all the time or invest in something like the above Russian tanker to have the capability to suppress the big ones!! Seeing firefighters and civilians dying because of mis-management is outrageous!!
NOTE: Homes and structures only should be protected if the burns are to be allowed for a return to a somewhat natural cycle. A lot more effort in fire resistant materials and clearings around structures must also be enforced. Many areas clearing is NOT ALLOWED because of eco regulations!!
Sitting in San Francisco enjoying the on-shore breeze and the marine layer (fog).
Smoke and haze from CA fires reported in Aspen CO today. Previously smoke has reportedly traveled as far as B.C and S. Dakota.
Willamette Valley clear today. Family welcome here, computer for your use. ~9 hr drive from Chico. Must pass through thermal trough sitting on S. Oregon, N. Calif to get here, though.
Local inversions trapping smoke, damping fires. Frequently the inversion lifts in afternoon, releasing smoke and fanning fires. Some of the larger fires are making their own weather with plume events, cyclones. Interesting phenomena from a safe distance. Somewhat horrific close up.
More thunderstorms predicted for western US. Abundance of dry lightning this year, minimal rain associated. Any idea why that might be? Persistant La Nina?
NASA reports it has nothing to do with sun. Sun “normal,” sun spot absence “within a standard deviation.”
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/11jul_solarcycleupdate.htm?list1021939
Could it be that NASA is mis-using statistics again, a standard deviation for them?
By the way, I have just been listening to the news.
I want to personally apologize to California for the criminal destruction of your economy (probably worse than this fire) by a the senior senator from my state.
I am ashamed to be a New Yorker, today.
Haven’t noticed any smoke up here in Seattle. Beautiful clear summer day!
You have Clinton and Schumer as Senators, and it took you this long to be ashamed?
😉