Fire Update & Smoke Forecast For August 22

The Red fire is 749 acres and the Rodgers fire is 150 acres. A temporary trail closure is in place - Rodgers Canyon from Neall Lake to the junction with Table Lake.

The high pressure system is still a dominant influence on smoke movement in the park. This is predicted to be the case for the remainder of the week. Because of the weak lifting, some smoke is now starting to be visible in Tuolumne Meadows.

• Yosemite Valley should have the same pattern of smoke accumulation overnight, with improvement beginning late morning. Unealthy for Sensitive Groups for 24 Air Quality Index (AQI), with a few hours of Unhealthy into late morning. Best time of day is late afternoon into early evening.
• El Portal will likely be Good for 24 hour AQI with a few hours of Moderate in late morning.
• Foresta will likely be Moderate for 24 hour AQI, with the best time of day in the afternoon.
• Tuolumne Meadows will likely be Good for 24 AQI, but there may be a few hours in the Moderate range.

The Red fire is 760 acres and the Rodgers fire is 230 acres. A temporary trail closure is in place - Rodgers Canyon from Neall Lake to the junction with Table Lake.

Yosemite Valley is likely to be Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups overall, with a few hours ranging into Unhealthy in the morning. Expect improvement starting midday with the best air quality in the afternoon. El Portal should be Good overall, with a few hours of Moderate midday. Foresta should be Moderate overall with a few hours of Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups in the morning. Expect improvement starting midday with the best air quality in the afternoon. Tuolumne Meadows should be Good all day. Some haze may be visible in the morning.

The Red Fire's 1,045 acre perimeter was about 50-60% active yesterday with the most active part being the north edge. Holding the trail system along the Illilouette creek remains to be the priority for the crews.

The Rodgers Fire is now 700 acres. Firefighters did a great job of securing a lot of the southern progression using a combination of handline and utilizing natural barriers like granite, creeks, and trail systems.

Yosemite Valley is likely to be Unhealthy for the 24 hour air quality index with morning hours ranging into Very Unhealthy. Clearing in the afternoon with Good to Moderate expected.
El Portal should be good for the 24 hour air quality index, with Moderate to Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups midday and clearing by late afternoon.
Foresta should be Moderate for the 24 hour air quality index with some hours of Unhealthy in the morning and clearing by mid afternoon.
Tuolumne Meadows should be Good for the 24 hour air quality index, but may see a few hours of Moderate midday.

Red Fire: 2,083 acres; more active yesterday with the very low relative humidity, high temperatures, and strong winds out of the southeast for most of the day. Single and group tree torching resulted in spot fires near the confluence of Red, Clark, and Illilouette creeks. Winds fanned these new fires into more sustained runs to the west and north.
Rodgers Fire: 1,518 acres; more moderate fire behavior and smoke production yesterday.

Current Smoke Outlook for Yosemite NP (airfire.org): https://outlooks.airfire.org/outlook/17996aec

• Smoke from the Red Fire will continue to settle in the Yosemite Valley during the overnight causing Unhealthy to Very Unhealthy Air Quality Index (AQI) in the mornings for Yosemite Village, Curry Village, and other areas within the valley. Foresta and El Portal may see brief AQI values up to Unhealthy in the mornings.
• Smoke from the Rodgers Fire will settle into the Tuolumne River valley with Moderate AQI impacts at times, primarily in the morning, from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to Groveland.
• Good air quality during the afternoon/evening is expected throughout Yosemite NP. Today's daytime smoke will primarily stay above the surface but will be transported towards Coleville, Bridgeport, and Lee Vining areas. You can view current air quality conditions throughout Yosemite National Park and the region at https://fire.airnow.gov

Consider being more active outdoors within Yosemite Valley during the afternoon and evening when air quality has improved. Physical activity during heavy smoke can result in health effects, especially for sensitive groups (children, elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions).

Fire Activity:

Alder fire, north of Alder Creek 1/10 acre, being fully suppressed, lightning caused
Aspen fire, northeast of Aspen Valey 19 acres, being fully suppressed, under investigation
Red fire, between Red Creek and Illilouette Creek 5,518 acres, lightning caused
Rodgers fire, southwest of Pleasant Valley 2,368 acres, lightning caused

Air Quality:

Yosemite Valley - Very Unhealthy through midday; Good to Moderate this afternoon/evening
El Portal - Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups to Unhealthy through midday; Good this afternoon/evening
Wawona - Moderate through midday; Good late afternoon/evening
Tuolumne - Good through the day; Moderate overnight