Smoke Call Status:

Mon - Fri at 1300 PDT (excluding holidays)

Issued:

12:30 PM   Tuesday, May 05, 2026

Discussion - Wednesday & Thursday

The upper low will be replaced by building high pressure on Wed leading to warmer and drier conditions, plenty of sunshine and periods of breezy winds. Horizontal flow will be generally onshore and light but typical afternoon gustiness will be present around the Greater Bay Area and Delta. Increasing temperatures and sunshine will also promote good afternoon mixing for interior areas away from the coast. Late night and early morning periods still look a little chilly across narrow and small valleys so pockets of reduced air quality are likely but should mix out by early afternoon.  Thursday will be the beginning of a general stablizing trend across most of N CA as high pressure begins to dominate the weather pattern.

(mph)

(ft AGL)

Wednesday Afternoon

Wednesday Afternoon

Wednesday Night

Wednesday Night

Click on images to enlarge

Thursday Afternoon

Thursday Afternoon

Extended Outlook:

Friday - Sunday

A weak upper trough will move rapidly across N CA and S OR on Friday.  No precipitation is expected but a period gusty westerlies ahead of the trough will be observed across the Shasta Valley, Modoc County and NW NV early Friday.  Once that feature passes to the east another ridge of high pressure will build over the region.  At this time forecast models are indicating max temperatures rising to 10-15 degrees above normal Sat-Sun across the Sac Vly and across the NE. However the increased stability will likely lead to some areas of reduced air quality as both surface and transport winds will likely be light. Favored areas for pockets of poor air will be the S. Sac Vly and E Bay Area.

Helpful Resources:

Air Resources Board

San Joaquin Air Quality

AirNow Fire and Smoke Map

North Zone Predictive Services Weather Page

South Zone Predictive Services Weather Page

NWS California Fire Weather Page

NWS Spot Forecast Request

This Product was developed by the Predictive Services group, located at the North Zone Coordination Center in Redding, California