Smoke drifting south from the Sites Fire in Colusa County has prompted Bay Area regulators to extend an air quality advisory through Thursday. 

The fire started Monday, has burned nearly 16,000 acres and is only about 5 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. 

“Smoke mainly from the Sites Fire is expected to continue to impact portions of Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties through tomorrow,” Bay Area Air Quality Management District officials said in a news release Wednesday. 

While people, especially those with health issues, young children and the elderly, should avoid prolonged exposer to smoky air, conditions aren’t expected to exceed the national 24-hour health standard, so no regional Spare the Air Alert was issued. 

People can check the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s fire and smoke map for local impacts at https://fire.airnow.gov/.

The smoky skies will coincide with a warming trend that will boost temperatures into the 80s to low 100s for the region’s interior valley areas away from the coast, according to the National Weather Service. 

The peak heat is expected Saturday and while other areas will experience warmer than average temperatures, they aren’t likely to rise to hazardous levels. 

Coastal areas should see temperatures in the 60s to 70s while communities along the Bay, especially in the East Bay, will hit the 80s during the same period.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.