When wildfires are burning in California, the smoke can lead to unhealthy air here in Washoe County -- and fires in the neighboring state are already well ahead of last year's in size.
Washoe County's Air Quality Management Division tracks wildfires, which have been getting larger in the last five to six years.
Many variables go into how Washoe County will be affected by a wildfire is burning outside the area, including meteorological conditions, what the firefighters are doing on the ground and proximity, according to Francisco Vega, director of Air Quality Management Division.
The 2024 wildfire season in California has already seen tens of thousands more acres burned than in 2023, exceeding the five-year average, according to Cal Fire.
How has Washoe County been affected by wildfire smoke in the past?
The 2020 to 2022 fire seasons were especially rough on our air qualify, according to Vega.
"Specifically, 2020, 2021 and '22, we experienced some of the worst wildfires, but also some of the worst air quality ever recorded," he said.
Data from the division shows air quality in Washoe County reaching the very unhealthy category two days in 2020 and 2022 and three days in 2021. The category means that the risk of health effects is increased to all populations.
Over the past decade, very unhealthy category level was not reached on any day, but the unhealthy category was reached in those same years, where some members of the public are affected with sensitive members being more affected.
Vega said that Washoe County's air quality has been affected by wildfires in California but also by blazes in Oregon and by recent fires as far away as Canada.
How big is the 2024 California wildfire season?
Since the start of 2024 to early July, over 2,900 wildfires have ignited in California and burned across 139,590 acres, according to statistics from Cal Fire.
That far exceeds 2023's 2,593 wildfires that burned across 7,812 acres in the same time frame.
According to Cal Fire, the five-year average for the number of wildfires at this point in the season is 3,252 with 29,752 acres burned. That mean's 2024's numbers exceed that average by over four times for fires in California.
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: California's wildfires exceeding '23, meaning smoky days likely for Washoe County
Local Oregon State
Most Popular
Comments / 0