Monday, September 08, 2014 - Yosemite NP - Meadow Fire Smoke Impacts

Yosemite awoke to clouds and even a light drizzle coming in from the remnants of hurrican Norbert this morning.  Clouds insulated the landscape and prevent cooling that normally causes cold air (along with smoke) to drain out of the high country in the area of the Meadow fire down into Yosemite Valley.

Here's the smoke at 7:23 AM:

And here's the smoke at 8:57 AM:

As a result, air quality was in the moderate range as of 7:30 AM today in the Yosemite Valley, and the smoke that has not been cleaned out by the rain and clouds remains trapped up high above.  The forecast calls for light NW winds tonight and tomorrow morning, and a return to clear, calm, and dry conditions thereafter.  This will likely lead to some smoke in Yosemite Valley from the Meadow fire tomorrow morning and possibly even more smoke the next day. Below is a summary of the smoke impacts so far:

And here's a map of the monitoring sites (yellow labels):