Shifting winds push smoke into the Mother Lode, valley

An overnight shift in wind direction was blowing smoke from the massive wildfires in Northern California south into the Sacramento Valley, the Mother Lode foothills, and some mountain communities like Long Barn, Pinecrest, and Strawberry where sensors showed unhealthy air quality Friday.

“Until yesterday we had onshore winds from the Pacific, winds blowing from the ocean upslope through the foothills, carrying smoke generally west to east,” Scott Roe, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sacramento, said before 12 p.m. Friday in a phone interview. “Today the winds are coming from the north and northwest.”

Winds out of the north and northwest were carrying smoke from the 675-square-mile Dixie Fire, now the largest active fire in the nation and the third-largest in state history, burning in Butte, Plumas and Lassen counties; the River Complex fires in Siskiyou County; the Monument Fire in Trinity County; the Mcfarland Fire in Shasta County; and other fires north of the Mother Lode.

“The winds have shifted,” Roe said. “They are blowing out of the north to northwest, carrying smoke to the south.”

In Yosemite National Park, lightning strikes and thunderstorms late last week sparked about 10 new wildfires in locations including near Tioga Road, near White Wolf Campground, and near Crane Flat.

One of those fires is the Tiltill Fire, north of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which had burned more than 500 acres as of Friday.

“Smoke from the Tiltill Fire in Yosemite is blowing generally toward the south,” Roe said. “Not strong winds. A lot of smoke is settling in and

around the park.”

Sensors near Cherry Reservoir, Long Barn, Pinecrest showed unhealthy air quality for all groups before noon Friday, and another sensor near Long Barn showed unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups, according to the federal Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program.

Forecasters in Sacramento said smoke from fires is expected to remain in the Sacramento Valley and the Central Sierra foothills for the next few days. They warned of possible reduced visibility in some areas, along with unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Contact Guy Mccarthy at gmccarthy@uniondemocrat.net or 770-0405. Follow him on Twitter at @Guymccarthy.