Smoke from the Cedar Creek Fire is blowing into the Eugene-Springfield area, resulting in an unhealthy air quality advisory issued by the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency that will last through Wednesday morning.

Winds began blowing west Sunday night due to a storm system in northern California, pushing wildfire smoke into Oakridge, and then Eugene and Springfield, according to LRAPA spokesperson Travis Knudsen.

"Air quality is pretty degraded for parts of the Willamette Valley, particularly those in the south of it, while areas to the north are seeing more improved air quality," Knudsen said.

The Cedar Creek Fire has grown to more than 113,322 acres as of Monday and is at 11% containment. It has been burning east of Oakridge since it was sparked by lightning at the beginning of August, but rapidly spread west between Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 when winds came in from the east.

Fire update:Cedar Creek Fire grows by 17,000 acres, mostly due to burning operations

By 11 a.m. Monday, LRAPA reported "unhealthy" Air Quality Index ratings of 158 and 198 in west and south Eugene, respectively, while Springfield has a slightly better "unhealthy for sensitive groups" rating of 141. Oakridge, which is a few miles west of the Cedar Creek Fire, had a more serious "hazardous" rating of 394.

Later in the afternoons smoke and haze amounts are expected to improve somewhat, before worsening at night when temperatures cool down and smoke settles near the ground, Knudsen said.

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are expected to have similar levels of poor air quality, before it improves more permanently by Thursday, as the California storms are blown away from the region.

The south hills of Eugene are seeing more severe smoke impacts than further north in the Santa Clara areas, Knudsen said.

Those in the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" include children, the elderly, anyone with heart or lung disease and pregnant people. LRAPA has advised those groups to avoid spending time outside and especially avoid strenuous outdoor activities. Under the "unhealthy" air quality, that warning extends to everyone. Anyone in a "hazardous" air quality area, such as Oakridge, is advised to stay indoors as much as they can, cancel outdoor events and to use a respirator mask if possible when venturing outside.

Poor air quality could return this fall until the Cedar Creek Fire diminishes if winds blow the smoke west into Lane County, Knudsen said.

The LRAPA map can be found online at lrapa.org/air-quality-protection/aqi-forecast/, and a nationwide map can be found at fire.airnow.gov.

Here is a list of recommendations for when air quality is degraded from LRAPA:

Louis Krauss covers breaking news for The Register-Guard. Contact him at lkrauss@registerguard.com, and follow him on Twitter @LouisKraussNews.