Early showers help clear valley air

Showers that may help clear the skies of several days of unhealthy air in the central San Joaquin Valley are expected to continue through Thursday morning, giving way to afternoon sunshine, the National Weather Service reports.

The weather service says the showers are part of a low-pressure front moving through the region and more wet weather is expected to arrive by Friday night.

Early Thursday, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control district forecast that air for the region would be unhealthy for sensitive groups, however that was an improvement over air quality in previous days.

By 4 a.m., Fresno received .04 inches of rain, Merced reported .12 and Madera .12.

Fresno’s high today will be 69 degrees, with a low tonight off 43 and a high Friday of 65.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 7:10 AM with the headline "Early showers help clear valley air."