Spare the Air Alert issued for New Year’s Day in Bay Area

The Bay Air Air District decided Tuesday to usher in 2026 with a directive: No burning wood.

Such were the consequences from a Spare the Air alert the agency issued for Thursday, the first day of the new year.

“Personal fireworks and residential wood burning are expected to cause localized elevated pollution levels,” the air district said in a social media statement announcing the alert. The district issued four Spare the Air alerts in 2025, including one on Thanksgiving.

According to the district, the air quality around the region on Wednesday is expected to be moderately healthy, the same air quality that coated the region Monday and Tuesday. But the fine particulate matter is expected to increase to numbers in the 80s throughout the region, up from numbers in the high 50s and low 60s Monday and Tuesday and the upper 60s and lower 70s forecast for Wednesday.

Air is moderately healthy when the fine particulate matter measures from 50-100. When the fine particle pollution reaches 2.5, the district generally announces an alert. That level is expected Thursday.

The alert will come at a time when the weather is expected to warm up and an atmospheric river storm is forecast to bring stormy weather to the region. The National Weather Service said their radar showed rain about 5,000-to-10,000 feet above sea level over southern Monterey County on Tuesday morning but that the rain was evaporating before reaching the ground.

Widespread showers through the region are expected to begin sometime Wednesday, according to the weather service. At least 1- 1½ inches are expected in all places, but as much as 2-3 inches could fall in areas that are hit the heaviest.

Near the water, beaches are expected to be hit with king tides and a coastal flood advisory from Cloverdale to Monterey will start at 5 a.m. Wednesday and end at 2 p.m. Sunday.