The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has extended Friday’s air quality advisory through Saturday.
The district blamed the advisory on smoke from wildfires in the western U.S and Canada. It initially issued an advisory regarding the air quality late Thursday afternoon for Aug. 8-9.
“An inversion layer combined with local pollution and residual smoke from fires in the western U.S. and Canada is impacting air quality in the Bay Area,” the district said in a statement.
The district said conditions can change rapidly and the location and amount of smoke at ground level is hard to predict. The public can check for real-time smoke pollution levels in their local area with the U.S. EPA’s fire and smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov .
Residents can also check air quality on the BAAQMD website, at EPA AirNow and Purple Air , which tracks particulate matter in the air.
Wildfire smoke contains fine particulate matter and other harmful pollutants, and exposure is unhealthy, even for short periods.