Lake Tahoe's air quality on Monday was the worse than just about anywhere in the world as the Caldor Fire continued to burn.
The region experienced very unhealthy and hazardous air quality throughout the day, according to the U.S. Air Quality Index. In some instances, air quality around Lake Tahoe even exceeded the Air Quality Index.
Everyone, regardless of their health, is advised to stay indoors and reduce activity levels when air quality ranges from 300-500. Air quality surpassed 500 in and around Lake Tahoe, on both sides of the California-Nevada border, throughout Monday.
Around noon, 10 cities in Northern California and Nevada experienced the worst air quality of anywhere in the country. All 10 were "beyond" the Air Quality Index, according to measurements from the air quality information platform IQAir.
IQAir measures air quality in major cities around the world, and Kabul, Afghanistan had the worst air quality (154) of the 94 ranked by the agency as of press time. The U.S. is currently trying to evacuate tens of thousands of people from the city as it ends combat operations within the country, which has been taken over by the Taliban.
Ten Northern California and Nevada cities, meanwhile, comprised the entirety of IQAir’s list of most-polluted cities in the U.S. on Monday afternoon. All 10 were still experiencing hazardous air quality, even as some cities experienced slightly better air quality than Monday morning.
Air quality isn’t expected to improve much in the region over the coming days, as a primary smoke source continues to creep closer.
CAL FIRE Chief Thom Porter said Monday in a press conference that the Caldor Fire was "knocking on the door of the Lake Tahoe basin." The Caldor Fire had burned 106,562 acres by noon on Monday, with only 5% containment.
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