California, 2018

Dense Smoke in California, November 8 to 21, 2018

November 8 to 21, 2018 · NWS MTR · 12 events in 9 counties and zones

Wildfire smoke from the Camp Fire in northern California brought widespread unhealthy air quality to the Central Coast and the Bay Area through late November. A persistent upper ridge over the eastern Pacific kept conditions fairly stagnant with light offshore winds ushering in smoke to the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MTR wrote it up.

Wildfire smoke from the Camp Fire in northern California brought widespread unhealthy air quality to the Central Coast and the Bay Area through late November. A persistent upper ridge over the eastern Pacific kept conditions fairly stagnant with light offshore winds ushering in smoke to the area. It was not until an upper trough brought a fresh air mass and precipitation that conditions returned to normal on November 21st. The poor air quality resulted in multiple events across the region being canceled, delays at major airports, and numerous closures of schools as well as places of employment.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Francisco Bay Area, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 8, 4:56 AM PST, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 8, 4:56 AM PST, 3 hours 4 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 dense smoke. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Smoke, North Bay Interior Valleys

When
November 8, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
North Bay Interior Valleys forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
38.362, -122.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, North Bay Mountains

When
November 8, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
North Bay Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore

When
November 9, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
38.290, -122.835 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, East Bay Interior Valleys

When
November 9, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
East Bay Interior Valleys forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
37.787, -121.934 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, East Bay Hills and the Diablo Range

When
November 9, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
East Bay Hills and the Diablo Range forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, Santa Clara Valley Including San Jose

When
November 9, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
Santa Clara Valley Including San Jose forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
37.233, -121.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, San Francisco Bay Shoreline

When
November 9, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
San Francisco Bay Shoreline forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
37.561, -121.980 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, North Bay Interior Valleys

When
November 9, 9:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
North Bay Interior Valleys forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
38.362, -122.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Unhealthy air quality from wildfire smoke prompted closures of all Santa Rosa city and Petaluma City schools https://abc7news.com/health/poor-air-quality-triggers-dozens-of-school-closures-in-bay-area/4653739/.

Dense Smoke, North Bay Interior Valleys

When
November 9, 9:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where
North Bay Interior Valleys forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
38.362, -122.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire smoke forces school closures in the North and East Bay with football games postponed https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/11/09/camp-fire-smoke-bay-area-air-quality/.

Dense Smoke, East Bay Interior Valleys

When
November 9, 9:00 AM PST to 6:00 PM PST
Where
East Bay Interior Valleys forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
37.787, -121.934 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire smoke forces school closures in the North and East Bay including postponing football games https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/11/09/camp-fire-smoke-bay-area-air-quality/.

Dense Smoke, Santa Cruz Mountains

When
November 10, 8:00 AM PST to November 21, 8:00 AM PST
Where
Santa Cruz Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
Other Federal Agency
Coordinates
37.230, -122.021 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

EPA reported unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality due to wildfire smoke.

Dense Smoke, Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast

When
November 11, 8:00 AM PST to 3:00 PM PST
Where
Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast forecast zone
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
36.240, -121.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Poor air quality from wildfire smoke causes cancellation of Monterey Bay Half Marathon https://www.kion546.com/news/monterey-bay-half-marathon-canceled/856141506.

What these are

Dense Smoke
Smoke reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in California in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in California, November 2018

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 788377, 788378, 788379, 788389, 788390, 788391, 788409, 788375, 788385, 788386, 788392, 788394.