Wildfire Smoke Hangs Over Bay Area as First Fall Storms Arrive
Air Quality & Weather
A weekend of gray skies continued Sunday as smoke drifting south from Oregon’s Moon Complex Fire mixed with the marine layer, lowering visibility and pushing much of the region into “moderate” air-quality readings. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District kept its advisory in place through the evening, though monitors showed improvement outside parts of Sonoma County.
Relief could come quickly. Forecasters expect a pair of small systems to reach the North Bay early Monday, bringing light rain and cleaner air. Fire officials welcomed the change; the incoming moisture is likely to ease wildfire danger locally and in southern Oregon, where firefighters continue to battle the blaze, according to reports from ABC 7 News.
Meteorologists at the San Francisco Chronicle note that the pattern will stay unsettled through mid-week, with a stronger front possible Wednesday that could drop a quarter-inch of rain across urban cores and more on higher peaks. The Chronicle’s Greg Porter cautioned that heavier bursts may form over terrain such as the Marin Headlands and Santa Cruz Mountains, echoing an earlier SFGATE outlook.
Local Forecast
Today: Cloudy morning haze giving way to a slight chance of showers after 11 a.m.; high near 71 °F.
Tonight: Patchy drizzle possible; temperatures hover in the low 60s.
Trend through Thursday: Intermittent light rain Monday night and again Wednesday, then gradual clearing. Highs slip into the upper 60s mid-week before sunshine and mid-70s return for the weekend.
Transit & Mobility
BART riders faced hour-long delays Sunday as equipment troubles coincided with scheduled track work, the agency told commuters. Details on the outage appear in the East Bay Times breakdown, while a separate advisory explains that shuttle buses are replacing Red Line trains between Richmond and MacArthur in one direction (Bay City News).
Long-term funding remains the larger issue: a coalition of civic and business groups is gearing up for a region-wide one-cent sales tax aimed at shoring up transit budgets. The proposal, outlined in the San Francisco Examiner-sourced report, awaits the governor’s signature to appear on the 2026 ballot.
Public Safety
Police in San Bruno are searching for a gunman who opened fire on a driver along Shelter Creek Lane, wounding the victim before he managed to escape and call for help. Investigators released preliminary details through ABC 7’s Peninsula desk and are asking witnesses to come forward.
On the Peninsula, a pickup veered off Alma Street near University Avenue in Palo Alto late Saturday, killing the driver. Separate but nearly identical accounts from NBC Bay Area, KTVU and the San Francisco Chronicle put the time of the crash just before midnight; investigators have not ruled out impairment.
Sports & Community
The weekend was mixed for local fans. At Levi’s Stadium, turnovers spoiled Brock Purdy’s return as the 49ers dropped their first game of the season to Jacksonville, 26-21 (Mercury News game recap). Up on the Farm, quarterback Ben Gulbranson engineered an 80-yard drive in the final minute to lift Stanford over San José State, 30-29, a finish chronicled by Marin IJ.
In Oakland, celebration is on deck: the independent Oakland Ballers claimed their first Pioneer League championship and will parade down Broadway next Sunday, according to SFist coverage.
Off the field, nine Bay Area activists swam from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park, raising scholarship funds for undocumented San Francisco State students. Their chilly crossing is detailed in ABC 7’s feature.