It's Getting Smoky Here
Aug. 18th, 2021 11:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerWe're fortunate that for as much as wildfires in California (and other western states) have been in the news the past several weeks, the fires are not near us. Moreover, the prevailing winds have largely kept the smoke away from us. Until today.
Today the sky was hazy with smoke all day. In the morning the smoke seemed to hang high in the sky. Although I couldn't smell or taste the smoke I could see its effects. The sky was a gray sheet and the sun an orange ball that cast an eerie orange glow around everything.
By early afternoon the smoke descended. Its smell was obvious when I was finishing up running errands after lunch. I closed up the windows in the house and ran the AC with constant fan. I took the opportunity to replace the HVAC air filter.
AQI levels rose to around 170. Below 50 is good. I got a bit of a stuffy nose; but the AC was more for Hawk, who's become more sensitive to smoke in the air than I am.
Thankfully this evening the winds have shifted again, thinning out the smoke. Local AQI is near 50 now. We've turned off the AC to save on our power bill.
"Close the windows and run the AC 24x7" is sadly becoming an annual thing here. We did it last year during Wildfire Season... and in 2019... and in 2018. The grim thing is that Wildfire season is growing. In past years it started in September and ran maybe as late as November. This year it started in July. How long will it last and how bad will it get?
Today the sky was hazy with smoke all day. In the morning the smoke seemed to hang high in the sky. Although I couldn't smell or taste the smoke I could see its effects. The sky was a gray sheet and the sun an orange ball that cast an eerie orange glow around everything.
By early afternoon the smoke descended. Its smell was obvious when I was finishing up running errands after lunch. I closed up the windows in the house and ran the AC with constant fan. I took the opportunity to replace the HVAC air filter.
AQI levels rose to around 170. Below 50 is good. I got a bit of a stuffy nose; but the AC was more for Hawk, who's become more sensitive to smoke in the air than I am.
Thankfully this evening the winds have shifted again, thinning out the smoke. Local AQI is near 50 now. We've turned off the AC to save on our power bill.
"Close the windows and run the AC 24x7" is sadly becoming an annual thing here. We did it last year during Wildfire Season... and in 2019... and in 2018. The grim thing is that Wildfire season is growing. In past years it started in September and ran maybe as late as November. This year it started in July. How long will it last and how bad will it get?
