Have the recent smokey air and heat changed your daily routine?

Good morning everybody,
Yesterday's temperatures for San Andreas.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Morning low...(67) degrees at 6:34am
Daytime high..(93) degrees at 3:40pm
Evening low....(72) degrees just before midnight.

Details for yesterday ..... Friday, July 11
Areas of smoke and haze, reducing visibilities at times. High of 93.1 F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Friday night: Mostly clear. Low 72 F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Areas of smoke will continue through this weekend. Winds will push the smoke from the Delta into the valley and foothills. Visibilities could be reduced at times. Fire danger remains high.
Cooler weather for this weekend with highs in the mid to upper 90s. Air quality should be in the unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Let me sum this up..............
Thick smoke is still over northern California but has lifted around the Sacramento area due to an onshore breeze. that breeze has also dropped temperatures quite a bit. Daytime high temps will depend on the amount of smoke you see. A thick layer of smoke means cooler temps while lighter smoke means a better chance at seeing triple digits again. Air quality should get better over this weekend along with some cooler temps.
The smoke is lifting but the deck is still thick enough to block the sun and cool our temps. We also have a good breeze to help the cooling. The question for this weekend is how much smoke will hang around? The less smoke we see, the warmer our temps will be. I do think we will see some thinning of the smoke by Sunday and that is why I have Sunday warmer than today. The air quality is getting better but it's probably a good idea to limit your outdoor activity.

Patrick

FIRE SEASON 2008
Governor Schwarzenegger and NASA Highlight Infrared Scanning Technology Helping to Fight California’s Wildfires

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined NASA and federal and state fire officials at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field to tour the facility and discuss the important role of NASA's remotely piloted aircraft, named Ikhana, to California's firefight. The unmanned aircraft carrying a NASA infrared scanning sensor flew over much of California this past week, gathering information that was delivered to fire commanders in the field-helping them understand the terrain and behavior of the state's most dangerous fires.

"California's unprecedented number of fires this early in the season make it all the more important that we use every tool at our disposal to protect property and save lives," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "NASA's Ikhana is one more incredible tool that we are able to use this year to bring real-time pictures and data to fire commanders, even when our other aircraft are unable to fly. The federal government has been an active partner in helping California fight fires, and NASA's assistance is one more example of that cooperation."

The Ikhana's most recent mission was on Tuesday, July 8. It flew for more than nine hours and covered approximately 10 individual and complex fires along a route over the Sierra Nevadas, west to the Cub Complex fires and south to the Gap Fire in Santa Barbara County.

The images are collected onboard the Ikhana and transmitted through a communications satellite to NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA, where they are superimposed over Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth maps to better visualize the location and scope of the fires. The imagery is then transmitted to the Multi-Agency Coordination Center in Redding and the State Operations Center in Sacramento, which distributes it to incident commanders in the field, so they can deploy resources where it will have the greatest benefit.

NASA satellites are also capturing imagery of the wildfires to fill in gaps in airborne imagery. For these images and additional information, visit: www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/fire_and_smoke.html.