The wildfires are being controlled some have been extinguished we're still smoked in where is it coming from?

It was carried in the Jet Stream.

The sky was clear blue on Friday, August 16, 2018, I fixed my coffee and went out to sit on the riverside porch. The Diablo Range was easily within site for a change, no longer obscured (completely) by the haze, fog, and smoke that combines to create a sight barrier. It was a nice relief after longer than a month of breathing the smoke, I spent a week inside the house ill, the smoke makes it difficult for me to breathe, born and raised in the North I never have gotten used to the Western climate. At 10:30 am the situation changed, the haze moved in like a foggy shroud covering the valley, my visibility was reduced to 3 miles, and began coughing almost immediately. There wasn't a change in the wind or any other weather feature, the smoke just moved back in, where did it come from? Let's take a look.

Wildfires in the Western United States, here is a Link for a better view.

The Mendocino and Carr fires joined together to form the largest wildfire in California history, Northeast of Ukiah it burned 335,647 acres, it is now 100% contained. Last week it was the source of smoke infiltrating our area as the fire was contained the smoke reduced with the containment and was hardly noticeable Friday morning. These fires are not the source this weekend.

The Ferguson fire that was burning near Yosemite is 100% contained and is no longer under the scope of Cal Fire, it burned 96,901 acres. At its peak 3,000, firefighting personnel were engaged in extinguishing the infernal. Two deaths, 19 injuries, and 10 structures have been total losses. The fire is out, and the park has been re-opened to visitors. This fire is no longer the source of the smoke engulfing us, it was until yesterday.

The Holy fire in Orange County California has destroyed 22,887 acres and is 92% contained. 18 homes were lost, 12 in Orange County and 6 in Riverside County. All trails, campgrounds, and recreational areas remain closed as well. The Long Canyon Road loop will remain closed. The Holy fire never was a source of smoke affecting the Bay Area, it is way too far South, I am sure the residents of many areas of Southern California were affected, however. This fire was started by an arson who is in jail and in the legal process.

There are as of today 159 wildfires burning in the Western United States, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, and Alaska. Fifteen are burning in Alaska alone, there are too many to count in Idaho, and Washington states.

Montana West of Glacier National Park has burned 3500 acres, started by a lightning strike there is 78 firefighting personnel on the scene protecting people and structures. The Paola Ridge and Coal Ridge fires are burning close by and are being managed by the same firefighting crew. Glacier National Park remains open.

South Dakota's Vineyard fire was blessed with a heavy rainfall taking the worry out of the fire growing out of control, rain cannot completely extinguish a wildfire when trees are involved. Putting out the flaming trees and above ground vegetation, the roots of trees will smolder for days and in some cases much longer. It burned 560 acres, fully contained and the cause is being investigated.

Oregon's Taylor Creek and Klondike Fires were ignited by lightning July 15, 2018. As of this morning Aug. 19, 2018, the Taylor Creek fire has burned 52,588 acres and the fire is 61 percent contained by the 579 firefighters on the scene. The Klondike fire has destroyed 68,241 acres and is 15 percent contained as of this morning, 845 personnel are fighting it. The smoke is heavy, being pushed to the Southwest towards the Ocean.

All wildfire smoke ends up on the ground.

Wildfires are starting and being contained in a continuing battle, not only are the crews fighting existing infernals that are increasingly growing larger every day but they are attempting to catch small fires before they spread. 110 of the large fires have burned nearly 2 million acres, including all of the states. Eight of the big ones have been contained including the Ferguson, and Mendocino complex fires. A high-pressure area is hanging over the  West coast bringing light winds, and high temperatures to the region, it is also responsible for one other aspect of the fires and the theme of this blog, smoke.

The high-pressure area rotates in a clockwise direction, spanning several states picking up the smoke from the fires along with it. Lifting the smoke high into the sky it is carried out over the Pacific Ocean, still airborne it has not settled on the ground. When over the Ocean the Jet Stream picks it up and carries it back across the Western States. This is the source of the smoke that moved into the Bay Area last Friday and has decided to stay for a while. All smoke ends up on the ground, most of the gases are dissipated but the particulates still make up a substantial portion of it. Although diluted with air due to its journey through our near ground atmosphere it is little relief to those suffering from asthma and other pulmonary illnesses. I pay attention to the High-Pressure area when it forms off of the coast, especially when it hangs out over the Golden Gate, it means a weather change. It depends if one likes the heat or not because that is what it brings, no wind, high heat, drying conditions, and making the West ripe for wildfires during the summer. When it is dominant during the winter it generally means a dry spell with no rain, either way, summer or winter the High-Pressure zone spells trouble. This summer trouble is spelled "s-m-o-k-e", preceded by devastating wildfires. 

Both of my sisters, one in Duluth and the other south of Minneapolis, have told me they are affected by the smoke also. The Jet Stream carries all of the smoke throughout the entire country, as the heading above says it has spread all of the ways to New York state. Opposite of our problem they are experiencing abnormal rain, my brother in law in upstate New York told me tonight they are not suffering from the smoke but oh man the rain, it is to be contended with as are our fires. My friend is in Missouri for at least one week, he too filed a complaint about the rain, the humidity actually, I told both of them we could use all the rain they can spare. There is a touch of "luck" I suppose if you don't live in the smoke, the same can be said for the floods, its a matter of picking one's poison.

Duluth, we all pick our own poison I suppose.

I read part of an article online with a headline of "When will people start to leave California due to the Wildfires?" I remember when I was young in Minnesota my dad talked about the California wildfires and mudslides. His comment was that the fires take place every summer (this was the 1960's) burning down many homes, the people rebuild and a few years later it happens again, they keep burning and rebuilding. It's the same with mudslides he would say, later the same year when the Minnesota river flooded he had this to say. "The people on the river bottoms get flooded out every year, and every year they return, muck out their houses, clean out the corrals, and repair their homes, they then replant their strawberries, when will they ever learn?"

The same traits are exhibited everywhere, Oklahoma with the devastating Tornadoes they endure, Hurricanes in Florida, flooding on the Red River of the North, and Volcanos in Hawaii. It must be human nature, I am ready to leave personally, I can no longer breathe here during the summer. Therein lies part of the problem, where would a person relocate to? There are wildfires everywhere in the west, and smoke everywhere else, until one reaches the downpours and flooding, we can't win for the losing.

Thanks for reading and sharing my blog, I have not touched on what can be done to ease the strain of breathing smoke, I wrote a blog on that a few days ago, you can use this Link to read it. Thanks again for reading, leave a comment, I'd like to hear where you are and if the smoke is in your life or if you're dealing with something entirely different.

jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com