LAKE COUNTY – Air quality officials say the county's air quality should remain good through this weekend.

Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart reported Friday that the air quality index for particulate matter was in the good range on Friday, and is expected to remain at that level through Sunday.

He said the local air quality index is expected to remain well below the 101 rating which would trigger an unhealthy alert.

Several unhealthy air alerts were given last month as a result of wildfires on the North Coast and around Northern California.

Some residual smoke that returned to the Lake County Air Basin earlier this week was transported from many uncontrolled fires that still are burning in the northern part of the state, Gearhart said. Progress is being made on these federal land wildfires but much of the complexes are in rugged and remote areas.

Winds are expected to be mostly from the west with some northwest patterns through Sunday, keeping much of the smoke to the north and west of Lake County, according to Gearhart.

Residual smoke can be expected to remain throughout areas of Northern California on occasion, including Lake County, though at a much reduced level, until the lightning complex wildfires are contained, he said.

{mos_sb_discuss:2}