Bay Area Air Quality Hits Unhealthy Levels After Wildfires

Bay Area and Northern California residents woke up to air quality rated as “unhealthy for some” on Wednesday.

Winds are bringing smoke from wildfires in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon to the Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service. Smoky air from the fires could linger across the Bay Area for the next few days, it said in a post on X.

Air quality levels are expected to remain unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens, until Thursday, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The National Weather Service put out a fire weather watch early Wednesday morning that will remain in effect until Thursday morning.

“The combination of gusty winds and low humidity can cause fire to rapidly grow in size and intensity,” National Weather Service meteorologists wrote.

Humidity is expected to be as low as 25 percent and winds could reach up to 20 miles per hour with 30 m.p.h. gusts.

Oakland Zoo closed on Wednesday because of the air quality and said it would issue refunds to customers who had reservations. San Francisco Unified School District officials said on Tuesday that they were monitoring air quality conditions, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.