Smoky skies Monday around Carson Valley, Carson City continues to degrade air quality
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Mon, 07/19/2021 - 9:55am
Air quality around Carson City and Dayton was in the "unhealthy" category Monday morning due to smoky skies from the Tamarack Fire in Alpine County. For the Carson Valley area in Douglas County, the air quality was in the "very unhealthy" range according to airnow.gov. The air quality monitors change hourly.
When air quality reaches 151-200, it is considered unhealthy; meaning some members of the general public may begin to experience health effects, with sensitive groups feeling more serious effects. When the air quality reaches the "very unhealthy" AQI range, the risk of health effects is increased for everyone.
When the Air Quality Index exceeds 300, it is “hazardous” for everyone and may prompt emergency condition alerts.
According to the National Weather Service in Reno, smoke and haze will continue to affect the region due to Tamarack and Dixie fires. Outflows from today's storms could influence smoke transport from Tamarack this afternoon and evening.
Many Carson Now readers advised Sunday their cellphone apps were giving them much higher air quality readings. Given the different information that people are getting from different sources, Carson Now checked with the National Weather Service in Reno regarding the differences and the source it uses, which is airnow.gov.
"We pass along the air quality information from airnow.gov, but there may be other sources people use," the NWS forecaster said.
