Hollister’s air quality worsened in the later afternoon Friday, eclipsing the threshold for “unhealthy” on the Air Quality Index for the second straight day.
That prompted San Benito High School to cancel all outdoor afterschool activities for the day, according to an announcement from the school.
The AQI as of 3 p.m. Friday was over 150, reaching the unhealthy range.
The AQI measures the amount of pollutants in the air. The measurement was at 117 at about 1 p.m. Friday. That fell into the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” range that is from 100-150. Anything from 150-200 is considered unhealthy for all groups.
The AQI also eclipsed the 150 mark Thursday in Hollister.
Schools in the area have canceled outdoor activities such as the Turkey Trot run planned at Hollister schools Friday. Gavilan College closed its campus Thursday and Friday, with AQI conditions even worse in Gilroy than Hollister.
The poor air quality has been attributed to the Camp Fire in Butte County, which had burned 142,000 acres as of Friday, according to Calfire.
Hollister air quality hits ‘unhealthy’ level for second straight day
