This view shows just how bad the air quality is in Fresno Tuesday. Despite the unseasonably hot weather Jorge Lopez finds time to bond with his family.
Lopez: "Just a perfect time to come outside. So we said, 'Hey the sun's up lets go, let's go run in the splash zone real quick.'"
Still Valley Air District officials advise families like the Lopez's to stay out of the heat.
Jaime Holt: "It's this time of year when we really have some of our crossover days which we see wildfires burning which bring the smoke into the valley and we see those high ozone days."
Jaime Holt said the district has developed a new program that alerts schools to hourly air quality readings by email. For example an orange flag day at school in the morning could change to red by noon.
Holt: "They can make decisions over the course of their day about whether to keep kids in from P.E. or sports practice or sports games."
Valley raisin growers have no choice but to work outside however they're crops thrive when the weather is hot and they're drying on the ground.
Raisin grower Steven Spate : "Ideally we'd like to have 95 degrees but anywhere between 85 and 100/ 103 is fine for drying raisins. It's just a matter of how fast they dry."
Construction crews are still working hard in the heat, trying to finish road improvement projects across the Valley. Caltrans officials said hot weather this late in the year gives them an edge.
Tamie Conrado with CalTrans: "We try to be out there everyday doing the same job no matter what the weather conditions. But obviously without the rain and without the fog we are able to do our job better."
The air district's new alert system is only accessible for schools in the Central Valley right now. The plan is to have it available to anyone within a year looking to monitor hourly air quality.
