Yesterday, the sun never came out here in the Bay Area. The sky’s color fluctuated between scarlet pink and pumpkin orange. My daughter called me before 8 am.
“Have you ever seen anything like this before?” she asked, incredulous. “I’m getting ready to get on my computer for work but I just got up. The sun never came out.”
I didn’t have anything to tell her. I was as shocked and frightened as she was.
Street lights, traffic lights, car headlights burned all day as a layer of fog worked with the wind to trap the smoke from numerous California fires high in the atmosphere. Inside the house, I left lights burning in my bedroom and office. I stayed inside most of the day, with the exception of dropping the dog off for some tests and taking her on a short walk in the late afternoon. Things felt apocalyptical.
The Bay Area air quality was the worst in the world yesterday and things aren’t much better today because of the fine smoke particles littering the air. Things look more normal – at first glance, it could just be another foggy day.
My friend Holly, who runs a dog walking business called me before 8 this morning. “I’m out $250 because I had to cancel all my walks,” she said. “What’s going on, Deb? This is crazy. What more can happen?”
I hate to tell her what more can happen. Living where we do, right smack next to the tinderbox which has become the GGNRA with all that open space and forest. We’re both aware of it. Just yesterday, I received an email about an upcoming meeting on evacuation plans for my neighborhood.
The PurpleAir map below shows real-time air quality readings around the Bay Area. On Wednesday, a thick band of purple AQI readings along San Mateo County, from Millbrae and San Mateo, down into western Santa Clara County. On Thursday morning, things were looking a bit better on the Peninsula, but far worse in the East Bay. And on Friday, air quality levels were extremely unhealthy for the Santa Cruz area.
AQI (or Air Quality Index) readings from 101 to 150 are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. Readings between 151 and 200 are considered unhealthy for everyone, and anything above 200 is very unhealthy or hazardous.
Even if you're seeing "green" readings on the map now, air quality is expected to remain bad through Sunday.
"Some parts of the bay, as we talked about, cooled off and cleaned out temporarily this morning, but don't let your guard down. It's going to get worse in a lot of areas," said ABC7 News Meteorologist Mike Nicco Thursday.
Just past noon today, I walk down to the abandoned school with the dog. I am wearing an N-95 mask I purchased during fire season last year. The streets are deserted, no sounds of construction or yard work. Yesterday, things may have looked surreal but workers were still out and about. You could hear construction sounds and leaf blowers. The traffic on the freeway above my house. Today the only sounds are the random call of birds and our footsteps.
A red Fiat turns into the driveway of the school as we enter the grounds. It’s the only vehicle moving in the neighborhood. In some ways today seems even eerier than yesterday. The sprinklers are soaking down the upper field and the ground beneath us is damp, the brown soil on the baseball diamond dark. There is a scattering of lights in school rooms.
A pair of hummingbirds dance back and forth in a feeding frenzy off the fuscia along the side of the field.
Once again, I flash on that picture of the playground in Chernobyl. Once again, I feel the horror of living through these unprecedented times.
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