# Breaking News: The West coast is on Fire **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512 "2020-08-19T19:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/121 "2020-09-09T15:59:49Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This is truly spooky, like that Twilight Zone episode where the sun never comes up. You can’t even see where the sun is, or any light except this sort of orange diffusion exuding from nowhere. It’s like living in every goddamned science-fiction novel where they have a red sun. Freaky as hell to wake up to, though I can’t complain much - at least I’m not near a fire (yet) and the air is semi-breathable with most of the smoke column so high above my location. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/122 "2020-09-09T16:13:52Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > We’re apparently living in Mordor now, where the very air is a poisonous fume. That’s what I was trying to think of! The guy on Channel 4 news said that the smoke was actually above the city and you couldn’t really smell it. Maybe not, compared to being next door to the fire, but I can sure smell it, and what I presume is ash is or has fallen lightly on the cars. Air quality where I am is reading in the low 100’s, so not nearly as bad as it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/123 "2020-09-09T16:18:10Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > This is heartbreaking to see. I left my heart on the West Coast when I moved away from there 6 years ago now and would love to return at some point. I would say don’t give up on us yet, this is temporary after all, except that it seems to be getting rapidly worse every year or every other year. There doesn’t seem to be anything they can do to make it better in the long run except keep trying to put out the fires, and keep trying not to start new ones. That isn’t working so well. I already have asthma, if this keeps getting worse we’re going to have to sell up and move to where they only have hurricanes or floods. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/124 "2020-09-09T16:20:26Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > Southern Oregon is on fire now, too. Incredibly windy today; a fire started at the edge of Ashland this morning morning and promptly headed off toward Medford. I-5 is shut down, no estimate for when it might reopen. Washington State as well. > **[Fires cover than 330,000 acres in 24 hours, Washington governor says](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/3-fires-roar-through-southeast-washington-communities-whitman-county-n1239506)** > > The small town of Malden devastated by fires, with a host of landmarks reduced to rubble. Time to expand the thread title? > **[Wildfires rage across Pacific Northwest: Truckers abandon rigs on I-5, smoke...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/09/08/california-wildfire-updates-lake-edison-power-outages-oregon-evacuation/5743310002/)** > > California's largest utility is cutting power. Helicopters were being sent to rescue hikers. High temps are fueling fires across Oregon and Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/125 "2020-09-09T16:33:34Z")
Mordor! That’s it! I can’t smell smoke. In fact, the air smells pretty clean. (Maybe I’m just used to it?) Still, I’m not taking the dog for walkies today. It’s gotten darker in the last hour. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/126 "2020-09-09T17:00:23Z")
True-as the sun is getting higher, the air is getting oranger. Freakin weird. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/127 "2020-09-09T17:03:02Z")
It keeps getting darker here. So far the air quality is still surprisingly decent. I can smell smoke, though. Somehow that makes me skeptical that the air quality is all that great. I’m trying to be data driven but Mordor is making it hard. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/128 "2020-09-09T17:11:47Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > So far the air quality is still surprisingly decent. I can smell smoke, though. Somehow that makes me skeptical that the air quality is all that great. I’m trying to be data driven but Mordor is making it hard. The bulk of the smoke is well above us at the moment, like at 2000-5000’ in the air column. This is causing the darkness and red shift. The lighter particles, which is mostly what air quality is based on, are being held aloft up there by winds/breezes. But heavier stuff like ash will fall out first and you can smell it without the AQI indexes wigging out. However if things start to go still, the lighter stuff will start dropping to earth as well and the air quality could go to shit very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/129 "2020-09-09T17:12:40Z")
I hate to be a downer, but I think that this is probably California’s future, and this will mean that property insurance will be getting more and more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/130 "2020-09-09T17:16:10Z")
The National Weather Service for the Bay Area just posted this: > As the winds weaken aloft, gravity will take over as the primary vertical transport of the smoke. > Suspended smoke will descend closer to the surface and could lead to darker skies and worsening air quality today. This is beyond the scope of our models so we rely on your reports! They sound so perky! (My cousin works there. I am long distance snarking a bit.) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/131 "2020-09-09T17:16:36Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I hate to be a downer, but I think that this is probably California’s future, and this will mean that property insurance will be getting more and more expensive. Oh, that process is already well underway the last couple of years and you are correct it will only get worse. The condo I’m currently renting is in a complex of mostly owner-occupiers and backs up against a regional park/hill. Property insurance is getting harder to find, much more expensive and much more restrictive. Not only are HOA fees having to rise to compensate, but they’ve been forced to completely curtail former liberties like outdoor bbq to get approved. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/132 "2020-09-09T17:20:02Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > They sound so perky! (My cousin works there. I am long distance snarking a bit.) I’m a fan of NWS Bay Area and was pretty much summarizing them 😄. I read their [forecast discussion](https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?new&prod=XXXAFDMTR&wfo=mtr) for the Bay Area most days. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/133 "2020-09-09T17:35:25Z")
I just went out and snapped some pictures that clearly show the smoke layer, with a ribbon of clear sky below it. It’s actually quite cool and comfortable out that side. The front of my house, on the other hand, will undoubtedly see the Orc army passing through shortly. Snarking aside, I hope everyone stays safe and well. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/134 "2020-09-09T18:06:00Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > > [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > > > So far the air quality is still surprisingly decent. I can smell smoke, though. Somehow that makes me skeptical that the air quality is all that great. I’m trying to be data driven but Mordor is making it hard. > > The bulk of the smoke is well above us at the moment, like at 2000-5000’ in the air column. This is causing the darkness and red shift. The lighter particles, which is mostly what air quality is based on, are being held aloft up there by winds/breezes. But heavier stuff like ash will fall out first and you can smell it without the AQI indexes wigging out. > > However if things start to go still, the lighter stuff will start dropping to earth as well and the air quality could go to shit very quickly. A reporter from the local public radio station explained why we’re seeing some conflicting air quality reports. Many air quality sensors are only calibrated to detect the smaller PM2.5 particles. The smoke from wildfires is mostly larger PM10 particles, which aren’t being picked up by the sensors. I assume this is why yesterday the weather app on my phone was reporting the air quality as “moderate” while at the same time the reporters on the radio were saying it was “hazardous”. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/135 "2020-09-09T18:13:44Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I hate to be a downer, but I think that this is probably California’s future, and this will mean that property insurance will be getting more and more expensive. Fortunately for us this doesn’t seem to be happening right in the city where we live. However I expect property values to start taking a hit pretty soon (it hasn’t seem to have happened yet, all those oversees investors aren’t watching the local news). ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/136 "2020-09-09T20:13:18Z")
Here’s an image I found of the smoke over Northern California. It’s essentially dark under a lot of that cover, with smoke as high as 50,000 feet into the atmosphere. > ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/137 "2020-09-09T20:28:52Z")
Thanks for that link. One of the tweets shows a shot of some site showing 8% of available sunlight at ground level. I believe it. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/138 "2020-09-09T20:30:24Z")
It F-ing sucks right now. It’s been weeks since we had a clear day. Many of those days are unhealthy to even be outside. And it’s not like you can go anywhere to escape - the skys are smokey for 100+ miles in every direction, and if one area seems OK one hour, a couple hours later they are smothering. Add to all this the pandemic, heat wave, your scheduled power outage (due to high winds and fire danger from power lines), and we are just F-ing sucking right now. I HAD been medicating from the pandemic with outdoor exercise but now even that has been taken away. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/139 "2020-09-09T21:17:07Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > A reporter from the local public radio station explained why we’re seeing some conflicting air quality reports. Many air quality sensors are only calibrated to detect the smaller PM2.5 particles. The smoke from wildfires is mostly larger PM10 particles, which aren’t being picked up by the sensors. I assume this is why yesterday the weather app on my phone was reporting the air quality as “moderate” while at the same time the reporters on the radio were saying it was “hazardous”. There is a good website, [purpleair.com](http://purpleair.com), which gives information from privately owned air quality monitors as well as the official ones. The numbers I’m getting are ab out 97, which is better than a few days ago but which don’t reflect reality all that well. One newscaster said that the sky looks like Mars. That’s exactly right. Someone could go out and film the Martian Chronicles without cgi. I put my trash cans out last night, and when I brought them in they were covered by a layer of ash, as was my car. Pretty surreal out there now. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2020, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512/140 "2020-09-09T23:58:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > There is a good website, [purpleair.com](http://purpleair.com), which gives information from privately owned air quality monitors as well as the official ones. The numbers I’m getting are ab out 97, which is better than a few days ago but which don’t reflect reality all that well. Be sure to adjust the map data layer conversion from “none” to “LRAPA.” The consumer-grade laser sensors Purple Air uses aren’t terribly good with smoke and tend to over-inflate the AQI unless you use that conversion to get it closer to reality. Also worth unchecking “indoor sensors” because those are pretty worthless for any use other than to the person who owns that home. The governmental AirNow sensors are much more expensive, robust and accurate. But there are far fewer of them, they sample far less frequently and you only see a trailing average. So PurpleAir is the best source for real time updates and is more granular, but you should take their exact numbers with a grain of salt. Best used more as a general trend ( getting worse/getting better and the general range of hazard ). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-news-the-west-coast-is-on-fire/918512.md?page=8)