SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – The Bay Area Air Management District has issued a Spare the Air Alert for Saturday, with high levels of smog from the looming heat wave expected to penetrate the region, the agency announced on Friday.
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A combination of a strong-high pressure system – which is forecast to lead to triple digit temperatures in some cities – light winds and vehicle exhaust is expected to cause unhealthy smog or ozone accumulation across much of the Bay Area, the agency said.
Spare the Air Alerts are issued when ozone pollution levels are predicted to reach unhealthy levels, which can cause damage to people’s lungs and throat. Officials recommend only exercising in the early morning hours when alerts are in effect.
A sweltering "heat dome" is on track to sear the entire state this holiday weekend, a term San José State University Professor of Meteorology Alison Bridger defined as a "giant blob of hot air the stretches from the coast of California all the way over to the four corners region of Arizona and a long way from north to south."
"In terms of the Bay Area, I think a few records will get broken, but I don't see widespread record shattering heat for example," she told KCBS Radio's Eric Thomas on Friday afternoon. "So this might be actually a relatively normal situation that's going on, but it is going to last for multiple days and maybe that’s the thing that’s going to be a little unusual."
Bridger said that temperatures will peak Sunday through Tuesday before beginning to cool down on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, an extreme heat warning was extended through Labor Day, with the North Bay, East Bay and some inland areas possibly reaching as high as 110 degrees next week.
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