Air quality still ‘unhealthy’ for San Francisco—but getting better

Well into the second week of horrid air quality, parts of the Bay Area remain under a chokehold of smoke and haze Tuesday morning, including Oakland, Berkeley, Marin County, and San Francisco.

The latest Air Quality Index [AQI] score according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AIRNow site is 169 in SF, once again dipping into the the “unhealthy” range. While today’s score is better than Monday morning’s number at 174, it’s still bad.

Once again, residents should limit their time outside. Denizens are also encouraged to wear N95 face masks while outdoors due to fine particulate matter in the smoke that has blanketed the Bay Area since last week.

“People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion,” says the Environmental Protection Agency.

The good news—air quality is expected to improve once rain moves into the Bay Area later this evening. The rain will bring wind with it, which, if all goes well, will push the smoke out of the region.

Cable car service will return to service Tuesday following several days of closure. However, some classes remain canceled until next week; be sure to check school websites and social media platforms for more details.

As of Tuesday morning the Camp Fire in Butte County torched more than 151,000 acres. The blaze is at 70 percent containment.

The death toll has jumped to 79 and the list of missing persons is at 700.