Spare the Air alert makes its return today

Like a summer guest who hasn’t been seen for a bit, a Spare the Air alert will roll back into the Bay Area today.

This time, Bay Area air officials don’t expect the pesky order that makes all wood burning indoors or outdoors illegal to overstay its welcome.

“The good news is that on Sunday, we expect to get some stronger offshore breezes, and that should clear out the (pollution),” spokesman Aaron Richardson of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said Friday. “By Monday, we should be OK.”

The alert is the 50th in 2020, an ongoing record for a calendar year. The most recent one was Oct. 11, and it capped a stretch that saw 15 straight days of alerts. Twice this year, the air district has issued alerts that have lasted at least two straight weeks.

Those alerts mostly were driven by wildfires throughout Northern California that burned following a lightning storm that blanketed the region. This one has been driven more by conventional fires that people build when it gets cold, Richardson said, and the stagnant air that cold ground can create.

“There’s also an offshore flow that is bringing pollution up from the Central Valley,” he said. “That’s caused the levels to build unexpectedly.”

By 10 a.m. Friday, the air quality index readings by the district had climbed over 100 in San Jose and near Laney College in Oakland, meaning the air was unhealthful for those with breathing problems. By today, Richardson said, much of the region may be in that tier or just below it.

Readings between 51 and 100 indicate the air is moderately unhealthful. The entire Bay Area had AQI readings Friday morning that indicated at least moderately bad air.

“When the wood burning increases, and it gets cold, this can happen,” Richardson said.