Air quality is just dreadful tonight in Sacramento. I'm suffering some respiratory distress - sniffles and post-nasal drip. People with asthma might be in real trouble. So, how does air quality tonight compare to November 2018, when the Camp Fire burned down Paradise, CA?Here is a chart of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration, in units of micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3), as a function of day from start of month - either since November 1, 2018, or August 1, 2020 - at Sacramento's T Street, the measurement station closest to my house. November 2018 is shown in orange, August/September 2020 in gray, and the federal health standard is shown as a horizontal blue line.
The Camp Fire started fumigating Sacramento in earnest around November 8, 2018. The crisis lasted about two weeks, with concentrations peaking nearly eight times above the health standard on November 15th.
The current air quality crisis started around August 17, 2020, and has featured lower concentrations than what we received from the Camp Fire, reaching equivalent levels - 144 ug/m3, which is four times the health standard - only today. Nevertheless, the current crisis is much longer-lasting than November, 2018 - nearly a month already. The longer things last, of course, the more harm is done.
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