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Rain coming soon to clean air


We'll all be relieved when the air quality map no longer looks this red. At least there's no purple on it today. (Image courtesy sparetheair.com)

Storms will help wash away smoke, ash




Help is on the way -- both for firefighters and gardeners.

According to the National Weather Service, rain will start arriving in Northern California late Tuesday night. Sacramento has a 90 percent chance of rain Wednesday, off and on showers Thanksgiving Thursday, then another good soaking on Friday.

Bad for travel, great for air quality. This welcome rain, the first real precipitation of our current season, will wipe away most of the lingering wildfire smoke, ending almost two weeks of unhealthful air. It also (hopefully) will help extinguish the remains of the Camp Fire, the worst in state history.

These storms end a significant dry spell. So far this rain season (which started Oct. 1), Sacramento has received only 0.04 inches; normal is about 3 inches for October and November. Sacramento is expected to get at least a half inch before a sunny Saturday and Sunday.

In anticipation of this storm, turn off the sprinklers this week. Then, plan to get busy next weekend. Soft ground is great for transplanting.

Meanwhile, avoid the bad air outdoors. According to the Sacramento region air quality districts, Sacramento reached 189 Sunday on the Air Quality Index, with 179 predicted Monday. That's unhealthful for outdoor activity. Rain will bring those numbers way down, at least into the moderate range (which is still unhealthful for sensitive individuals).

What is in that bad air? According to SparetheAir.com, Fine Particulate Matter - known as PM2.5 -- is "a complex mixture that may contain soot, smoke, metals, nitrates, sulfates, dust, water and tire rubber." The AQI measures the particulate level at five sites in Sacramento County plus several other stations in the region. Sacramento's measurement is made at 13th and T streets downtown.

When is the air worse? Usually late at night. According to the National Weather Service, overnight inversion traps pollutants close to the ground. All that smoky air acts like fog, then gradually lifts after dawn.

Here's the forecast timeline for our region. (Image courtesy National Weather Service, Sacramento)

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Garden Checklist for week of June 8

Get out early to enjoy those nice mornings. There’s plenty to keep gardeners busy:

* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal or rock phosphate can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.

* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. Inconsistent soil moisture can encourage blossom-end rot.

* It’s not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers or eggplant.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

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