Yes, the Holiday Smog in L.A. Is Really Bad This Week

A layer of dense particles — haze, smog, or whatever-you-wanna-call-it — has been sitting over the Los Angeles Basin since Christmas Eve, and yes, it’s gross.

According to figures gathered by the state Air Resources Board, L.A. has had high levels of unhealthy air four days straight since Dec. 24. Check out this graph. Holiday traffic, wood-burning, the recent fires, and weather patterns are contributing to the haze.

So far today (Dec. 28), conditions are still nasty. The real-time monitoring by the Environmental Protection Agency shows a patch of red-colored warning for bad air over much of the South Bay, South L.A., downtown, and the Westside as of 11 am local time.

Air deemed unhealthy (in orange) for “sensitive groups,” including children and seniors, was covering the hills, the San Gabriel Valley, and north Orange County by midday. See the most current map here.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) prohibited wood-burning and fireplaces in the entire region since Christmas, although it is not clear if everyone in town got the message. The burning ban is in place through midnight Friday (Dec. 29).

That's right. No chimneys today: “SCAQMD reminds residents in these areas that burning wood in their fireplaces or any indoor or outdoor wood-burning device is prohibited today and tomorrow through midnight on Friday,” the agency’s statement said. “The no-burn rule prohibits burning wood as well as manufactured fire logs, such as those made from wax or paper.”