Red Sun over Bako

The Red Sun

Bakersfield is not known for it's clear skies or it's clean air. This summer is no exception. The Zaca wildfire has been burning in the Los Padres National Forest for about 6 weeks now. It has caused quite a bit of monetary damage in consuming over 150,000 acres of forest. One of the side effects of the fire is the giant smoke plume over the southern San Joaquin Valley.

For the past month we in Bakersfield have been seeing significantly cooler weather than usual (high 80's - mid 90's) which is nice, but on the other hand we've had twilight conditions from about 3:00 on as the sun turns red and diffuse behind the ceiling of smoke. According to the local paper, our air quality has actually been better this summer than in the past summer, however lately we've been having a lot of ash fallout which can't be good for anyone.

We've known a few people who have been sick lately with respiratory maladies, this could be from anything, but if nothing else serves as a reminder about how bad the air is here all of the time. No wonder so many kids here have asthma. Bakersfield is a nice place to start out adult life, but this blotting out of the sun serves as another reminder that it is time to find a new place to live...