The smoke blanketing Shasta County since early Monday is making breathing unpleasant and eyes watery.

The three fires burning in Shasta County and several others burning in Northern California continue to send smoke, ash and its chemical and toxic pollutants into the air. Redding's pollution levels Monday morning were in the "very unhealthy" zone, the worst in the North State, according to the air quality monitoring site, PurpleAir.

The upside is there's hope for a little relief from the smoke. The National Weather Service is forecasting delta breezes are moving up the Sacramento Valley and may clean the air by Monday night and into the early hours on Tuesday.

The downside is Redding may be too far north for the marine breeze.

“It does seem like there might be enough (wind) to push up to Redding,” said Eric Kurth, a meteorologist at the weather service in Sacramento. “Since Redding is further away from where that marine air is coming, it’s sort of the last to get some of that cleaner air.”

Monday's winds won't arrive until late evening, possibly around midnight. Until then, smoke continues to fill the Sacramento Valley from the Carr, Hat and Hirz fires in Shasta County. Additionally, the Mendocino Complex, the largest wildfire to burn in California, is in Colusa, Lake and Mendocino counties.

Trinity County isn't doing much better. Smoke in Weaverville, Lewiston and Eastern Trinity County is unhealthy for sensitive people. Some areas close to fires are seeing outdoor air unhealthy for everyone.

Residents are advised to stay indoors with their windows and doors closed, in air conditioning with a recirculation setting. A swamp cooler doesn't do the job of filtering the air that an air conditioner does.

Smoke can cause coughing, scratchy throat, watery and itchy eyes, difficulty breathing and other symptoms. People most vulnerable to the smoke could develop asthma or other respiratory conditions like severe chest pain, gasping, aggravated coughing, chronic bronchitis or decreased lung function.

For more health tips and information on coping with smoke from wildfires go to the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency website at

Read or Share this story: