How close is the fire that’s causing bad air quality and thick smoke to blanket Fresno area?

The thick smoke that rolled above Fresno on Wednesday evening is expected to last through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford.

But one might be surprised how far away the fires are that generated much of the smoke.

Due to an upper-level, low-pressure system that moved into the northwest coast, winds from the north pushed down smoke that originated from fires in northern California, NWS meteorologist Jim Bagnall said.

Among the NorCal fires still actively burning is the Dixie Fire, which has torched more than 600,000 acres spread over Butte, Plumas, Tehama, and Lassen counties, according to Cal Fire.

That’s roughly 200 miles from Fresno.

Nonetheless, smoke blanketed much of the Fresno area with poor air quality rolling in, too. Wednesday’s air quality index read at 139, which is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

“All the smoke from the fires to our north has steered down our way,” Bagnall said. “It’s not uncommon for smoke to travel that far away. There’s just a lot of fires that need putting out, and a lot of smoke that’s hovering and moving.

“The wind decided to blow the smoke our direction.”

There was one positive from the upper-level, low-pressure system for the Fresno area: The winds helped dropped daily temperature highs below 100 degrees for just the second time in the past 23 days.

Wednesday’s high was at 90 degrees. Thursday’s high was forecast at 94 degrees.

And triple-degree heat isn’t expected to return to the Fresno area until Wednesday, the NWS predicts.

“The cooler temperatures is one plus with this weather pattern,” Bagnall said. “But with the bad air quality, it’s just best to stay indoors right now as much as you can.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 9:19 PM.