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Sacramento residents are smelling smoke. A controlled burn in Tehama County, fires to the south near Yosemite and a punishing heat wave that has stifled Delta breezes are among the culprits, meteorologists say.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a heat wave for a week, and it\u2019s not a little hot, there\u2019s a massive high pressure system in the atmosphere,\u201d said Sacramento Bee newsroom meteorologist Sean Macaday. The heat wave that pushed temperatures to near-records across the Sacramento Valley also created an inversion layer that has trapped the hot air \u2014 and any smoke \u2014 above the valley floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an inversion. Air\u2019s not rising, there\u2019s no Delta breeze,\u201d sealing everything from backyard barbecue smoke to larger fires in the skies, Macaday said.<\/p>\n
But plenty of sources of smoke fouled Sacramento\u2019s air on Tuesday, including a large controlled burn in western Tehama County and blazes burning to the south in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties.<\/p>\n
The forecast calls for moderate air quality \u2014 an air quality index of 60 \u2014 on Tuesday and Wednesday, even as temperatures hover in the 90s across the Sacramento area.<\/p>\n
The prescribed burn by Corning Land & Cattle Co. on Tehama County rangeland has consumed about 5,000 acres over the last couple of days, sending smoke drifting into the valley.<\/p>\n
In Sacramento, a brush fire late Monday on the American River Parkway produced more smoke.<\/p>\n
But meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Sacramento said the region is also experiencing smoke from the Piute Fire burning in Tuolumne County<\/a> and the 6,800-acre Dome Fire, now 40% contained, in Yosemite National Park.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no wind, so that smoky feel is definitely hanging around,\u201d said meteorologist Jeffery Wood in Sacramento. Unseasonably high temperatures prevail through Friday, with readings in the 90s across the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin valleys, according to National Weather Service forecasters.<\/p>\n But that will change by the weekend, The Bee\u2019s Macaday said, as a low-pressure system finally pushes the ridge of high pressure to the east starting later Friday. Temperatures are expected to drop into the 70s across the region by Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a low pressure trough slides in between Friday and Saturday, that will come with a big sea change. Wind will immediately rush in, and it will feel more comfortable Saturday and Sunday,\u201d Macaday said. \u201cIt\u2019s literally a fall breeze.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published October 6, 2026 at 12:12 PM.<\/p>\n