RIM Fire -- Air Quality -- Sun. Sept 8, 2013 8:00 am Yesterday, Saturday, September 7, 2013 The Rim Fire burned approximately 3,000 acres, mostly within the containment lines. It is currently 250,649 acres. A strong inversion brought smoke down the Clavey and Tuolumne River drainages, into the Lake Don Pedro basin and the central valley. Smoke trapped by the inversion cleared a little before noon in most areas. Transport winds in the fire area were southwesterly so, the main smoke plume traveled mainly northeast toward the communities of Pinecrest, Bear Valley, Markleeville, and Bridgeport. Northwest winds east of the Sierra crest kept all but light smoke out of Minden and Carson City most of the day, but weakened in the evening resulting in some impacts in Minden this morning. The Yosemite and San Joaquin Valleys were not impacted by smoke from the Rim Fire. Sunday, September 8, 2013 More fire activity yesterday and into the night, coupled with a stronger inversion caused smoke to drain down the Clavey and Tuolumne River drainages, into the Lake Don Pedro basin and further into the central valley than previous mornings. Morning air quality impacts are heaviest in Tuolumne City, Pinecrest, Bear Valley, Markleeville, and Columbia. Le Grange and Minden are both experiencing impacts this morning as well. The inversion should break by noon in all areas. Transport winds will shift through the day from southwesterly early to west-northwesterly by late afternoon, likely bringing smoke into the Tuolumne Meadows area, Yosemite Valley, El Portal, and the San Joaquin Valley late in the evening. Nighttime impacts similar to yesterday are likely for Minden and possibly further south in Bridgeport and Lee Vining. Monday, September 9, 2013 Morning impacts are likely to extend south into the Yosemite and San Joaquin Valleys as far as Fresno. The model is no longer predicting impacts to the north into the Sacramento Valley. The morning inversion is still forecast to be quite strong, and likely to persist until around noon. Transport winds be weak westerly and possibly even northwesterly late in the day. Any relief should come in the afternoon, but by late afternoon and into evening smoke will roll back into the Yosemite and San Joaquin Valleys and persist into the following morning. East side communities, including Markleeville, Minden, and Carson City should get a break from heavy smoke for a few days. Long term Outlook Tuesday remains about the same, with morning impacts perhaps extending even further south to Visalia. Daytime transport winds remain light westerly to northwesterly. Diurnal slope and drainage winds in the Sierras should provide some clearing in the afternoon, but widespread smoke is predicted to linger over much of the region For more information, or if you have questions, please contact the Rim Fire at 805-727-4775 or 805-727-4746. The Tuolumne City Rim Fire Information phones at 209-928-1059 will not be staffed beginning Friday September 6th. If you have questions about Yosemite National Park call 209-372-0327 or 209-372-0329. Updated information is also available at inciweb.org/incident/3660/. All media are requested to report to the Incident Command Post to check in with the Public Information Officers.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 17:37:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015