Wildfire Smoke is Making San Francisco Look Instagram Filtered

The County Fire burning in Northern California’s Yolo County is blanketing San Francisco with smoke today. And when combined with the fog rolling in from the Pacific Ocean, the smoke is giving the city an eerie sepia-toned look that’s making it look like it was passed through an Instagram filter.

People have been taking to social media today to share their unusual #nofilter photos of San Francisco:

Ever wondered what happens when smoke from #YoloCounty fires meets #SF fog? pic.twitter.com/rhDI4yiGdi

— Alison "china person" Goh (@alisonhgoh) July 1, 2018

Whoa. #Smoke coming from the east bay fires. Here we go again. #SF #nofilter cc @KarlTheFog pic.twitter.com/gqs4HBvX7L

— Heather Blanchard (@poplifegirl) July 1, 2018

San Francisco sky is bizarre right now. Rayleigh scattering through this cloud is depleting all the blues and leaving us with a sepia sky. pic.twitter.com/weUDCkulsN

— Rick Zuzow (@RickZuzow) July 1, 2018

SF looks like it has a sepia tone applied to it because of smoke from the wildfires pic.twitter.com/WEUTmFrbux

— Chris Sánchez (@itsqris) July 1, 2018

Noe Valley, San Francisco, 11am today.

Smoke from the Northern California fires is filtering the sunlight. It's like looking through amber-colored sunglasses.@NoeValleySF @KarlTheFog pic.twitter.com/1PqC9pvqpk

— A Solid Six Out Of Ten Bob Horowitz (@bats1234) July 1, 2018

#CountyFire smoke turning the skies of #SanFrancisco orange. No filter on this photo from a friend in #sf @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/oe53XMybfJ

— Ali Wolf (@awolfTV) July 1, 2018

#karlthefog and smoke from the Yolo fires causing eerie yellow light in SF pic.twitter.com/cs42UrrYvh

— ❄️Kelly P❄️ (@SFkcp) July 1, 2018

Smoke from #CountyFire giving San Francisco fog a yellow hue. No filter on these photos. @KQED @KQEDnews pic.twitter.com/LyeCRsTZm8

— Anna Kusmer (@ASKusmer) July 1, 2018

Like 'the apocalypse': Pics show Bay Area choked by ash, smoke https://t.co/N10Elf1ipc pic.twitter.com/kTrhKiBEd8

— SFGate (@SFGate) July 1, 2018

The sky over San Francisco today from the Yolo County Fire.#countyfire pic.twitter.com/auVcITZomW

— William Chamberlain (@chamberlainwill) July 1, 2018

I didn’t edit these at all. Taken at 9th x Harrison in SF. This smoke is no joke. #SanFranciscoFire pic.twitter.com/7IjZ0jVPWU

— hayleyyjay (@hayleyyjay) July 1, 2018

Here’s a satellite photo showing what the smoke plume looks like in its journey from inland towards the coast and bay:

Smoke from the #CountyFire moving directly over the central San Francisco #BayArea, as seen on today's #MODIS image. Still getting some ash falling in #SF though the smoke plume is still mainly above the surface marine layer. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/rHzYB9pFjs

— Daniel Alrick (@SFmeteorologist) July 1, 2018

And despite the smoke acting as an Instagram filter, authorities are reportedly saying the air quality of the city is still “fairly good” because the fog is acting as a filter for the smoke.