BERKELEY, Calif. — With wildfires raging in Northern California this week, smoke lingered over Berkeley and there were concerns about the air quality leading up to the game Friday night between Washington State and California.
The air quality index hit a high of 177 at about 2 p.m., but by the time the Cougars took the field to begin warm-ups at 6 p.m. it was down to 159.
Still, there was enough ambiguity in the situation that the Pac-12 Conference and the Cal athletic department both issued midafternoon news releases stating the game would proceed as scheduled despite the higher-than-normal Air Quality Index (AQI).