We are arriving on July 3rd to do a San Fran, Lake Tahoe, and Carmel trip and we are very nervous about the smoke, smell , haze and potential rode closings.
Does anyone have any insight as to the outlook for the end of next week. We will be flying into San Fran and driving to the other locals. How much do you think impact our vacation plans? I hate to be so selfish when so much else is at stake, but at the same time I don%26#39;t want to do my only trip this year at a place we can%26#39;t enjoy.
Fires, smoke, haze????I understand your concerns. California isn%26#39;t quite at her best these days. The skies don%26#39;t have their usual bright blue luster and the air is a bit harsh. If Carmel is at the end of your trip, that fire, which is the biggest smoke generator as far as I know, will have had more time to settle down. And with your varied itinerary, you%26#39;ll be sure to see some of our blue sky.
I%26#39;ve always reminded my kids when they%26#39;ve gone on school camping trips that ';You%26#39;ll have a good time or you%26#39;ll have a good story.'; With just a little bit of luck, you can have both. The only major road closing is Highway 1 south of Carmel, which doesn%26#39;t affect your trip. California is still warm, not humid and with beautiful, dramatic scenery and interesting cities. There is still a lot to enjoy despite the haze.
And you%26#39;ll be able to say when you are back at home watching the news ';I was there while those fires were burning. That was quite an experience!';
Fires, smoke, haze????It%26#39;s hard to speculate about where the fires will be in terms of containment or control by the end of next week. At least in some of the coastal areas near San Francisco, we%26#39;ve had some foggy weather, which is encouraging for fighting fires. I drove up from near Santa Cruz back to S.F. on Wednesday morning and it was close to drizzling on Hwy 1.
Air quality isn%26#39;t good anywhere in Northern California right now. I live in the middle of S.F. on a hill, and I just check and I cannot actually smell any smoke. But it%26#39;s pretty hazy all around the Bay Area.
Currently, Hwy 1 is closed for about a 15-mile stretch near Big Sur. This is 25-30 miles south of Carmel. If you want to go to Hearst Castle, you can%26#39;t take Hwy 1 now but have to go down 101 to Paso Robles and then west to the coast.
Maybe our best suggestion so far in advance is to keep an eye on the news reports on www.sfgate.com as you get closer to leaving, and check the CalTrans website for road conditions.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi
Agree with the earlier posting. It is difficult to predict. The fires are causing much concern because this fire season is getting an early start. My heart goes out to those who have to leave their homes or are in the direct path of the fire and smoke. You may not have the vista you would expect due to the smoke but this time of the year I could say the same thing because of fog. So enjoy your visit.
See my post called ';FIRE in Big Sur, help me get around it'; or something like that.
I have been all around the fire (down PCH from Monterey South to the road block, down 101 and up PCH to the road block from Cambria)...
They just said on the news the fire is about 3% contained and is very difficult to fight because of the remote location. It is basically going anywhere it wants right now. We were in the area for a week and fly out tomorrow. We didn%26#39;t completely write off this trip and will for sure be coming back (probably in September-ish of whatever year we come back, just to do PCH in Big Sur). The drive is so incredible, and was mostly ruined because of the fire. It%26#39;s not looking good anytime soon sadly...
Up until today, I didn%26#39;t notice it too much, but today the haze was very apparent, and I%26#39;m thinking that the sore throat I%26#39;ve had all day is from the smoke. My best guess is that it won%26#39;t be a lot better in a week%26#39;s time since the fire has been very difficult to contain, and there are other fires nearby, but I%26#39;m no expert. Just keep checking each day, and if I hear anything definitive, I%26#39;ll be sure to post it here.
Haze between San Fran and Lake Tahoe has been pretty bad but by July 3rd it may be much different. Google ';Caltrans'; to get the website for the California Dept. of Transportation. You can enter a highway number and find out about road closures. You can also see traffic cams which will give you some idea how bad the haze is.
We are expecting more lightning storms this coming weekend and if that starts new fires, things may change quite a bit so keep looking daily on the web for new info..
My heart goes out to all of you who are living in the areas threatened by the fires.
We drove from LA to Carmel last October. We left LA the day the Malibu fire started. We experienced smoke haze all the way up the coast - it was bad even in Big Sur. It certainly didn%26#39;t ';ruin'; our trip but our photos were not that great because of it. Smoke travels whichever way the wind blows. I live in Colorado and we are getting smoke haze from the California fires. We are, unfortunately, well acquainted with wildfires here. It%26#39;s a terrible thing.
Take a look at this sat. photo, the smoke is worse north of the bay area, wind has been blowing from north to south. Much of the smoke in the Bay Area is coming from fires in the northern part of the state.
鈥logger.com/_Q6I0onVzoB0/SGQ05lOeXbI/AAAAAA鈥?/a>
It is pretty bad all around. It%26#39;s just one big sky of haze out there in San Francisco proper. According to the news, it%26#39;s supposed to be better the closer you get to the ocean, in the Bay Area - but unless it%26#39;s clear in the Sunset District - the assumption doesn%26#39;t appear to be holding true.
The news has been filled with warnings for people to stay indoors due to the very high levels of particulate matter that can get into your lungs.
The five day forecast from KTVU in Oakland predicts less smoke on Monday: http://www.ktvu.com/weather/index.html
But they also expect the possibility of more lightening strikes on Saturday, so you never know.
For information on the health impact of smoke, visit www.sparetheair.org or www.airquality.org.
Nope.... The Sunset/Parkside neighborhood is cloudy and hazy, too. The smoky smell isn%26#39;t as pronounced here as it probably is elsewhere, but we%26#39;ve got it too.
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