Sydney residents this morning woke to a blanket of fog across western suburbs. Not only that, Sydneysiders would have also noticed the distinctive smell of burning eucalyptus. According to NSW RFS, the hazard reduction burning season has begun with several burns across Greater Sydney adding a plume of smoke to the bank of fog.

As you can see from the satellite imagery loop below, fog extended across a large swath of the metropolitan area, narrowly missing Sydney Airport and Sydney CBD. Once the sun came up, the fog quickly dissipated, clearing entirely by 10am.

Image: Satellite loop of fog over the Sydney area. Source: Weatherzone 

Visibility fell to as low as 100 metres at Camden and Bankstown airports in the early hours of the morning. Sydney Airport was unaffected. 

Image: Graphs showing PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations at Lidcombe. Source: NSW Government Air Quality 

According to NSW Health, poor air quality is forecast for the Sydney area today. Monitoring stations in western Sydney recorded poor air quality in the early hours of Sunday morning as PM2.5 and PM10 levels soared. Now that the fog and smoke have largely cleared with help from an afternoon sea breeze, air quality levels have recovered to 'fair to good' levels. However, with prescribed burns continuing in the area, it's best to monitor the situation closely. You can find more information at the NSW Government Air Quality site and the NSW RFS Hazard Reduction page.