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Smoke Call Status:  Mon - Fri at 1300 PDT (excluding holidays)
Issued: 12:30 PM   Monday, May 04, 2026
Discussion - Tuesday & Wednesday
Upper low influences will begin to diminish Tuesday as the low center begins to weaken and move south toward S CA.  Thus showers and thunderstorm activity will wane but some cloud cover will form each afternoon.  As the low drifts south a ridge of high pressure moves in and a drier N-NW flow will be observed with the gustiest day being Tue where surface and transport winds will range from 15-25 mph...and locally stronger. These winds diminish significantly by Wed becoming more onshore and terrain driven in the afternoon.  Sunshine should be plentiful prompting favorable mixing heights during the afternoon on Wed except for the near Coast and Coastal interior.  Pockets of poor dispersion early Wed are likely before afternoon mixing provides good air quality across most areas. 
Transport winds
Mixing Heights
(mph) (ft AGL)
Tuesday Afternoon Tuesday Afternoon
 
Tuesday Night Tuesday Night
Click on images to enlarge
Transport winds
Mixing Heights
Wednesday Afternoon Wednesday Afternoon
Extended Outlook:  Thursday - Saturday
Warming and drying continues into Thursday with fairly light onshore winds but decent afternoon mixing. A weak upper trough slides across the N State on Friday enhancing onshore breezes and adding a little more instability to the air mass but little to no precipitation is expected with this feature.  Then more dry northerlies return on Saturday as another high pressure ridge builds over the Pac and extends across the state...with warming and drying.  This ridge will also likely lead to much more stable airmass and less dispersion, especially as we move into the late weekend.
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