A bit of relief for Bay Area residents inundated with a cloud layer of smoke from dozens of wildfires burning in the region appears finally to be in motion, forecasters said Tuesday morning.

“We saw a real robust movement of the marine layer,” National Weather Service meteorologist David King said. “It got much lower than we first thought it would. It’s at about 1,500 feet, and it made a much deeper push inland.”

The result, King said, is additional cloud cover in areas farther inland than in previous days and the slow relinquishing of the high-pressure ceiling that has contributed in keeping the smoke trapped in the region. As the layer becomes more established, King said, the atmosphere should begin to clear gradually, starting from the ground and moving up.

“It is looking like closer to the surface, the concentration (of smoky air) won’t be as heavy,” he said

A Spare the Air alert issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District remained in effect through Wednesday, and the agency expected the worst air Tuesday to be in the South Bay, Santa Clara Valley and areas of the far North Bay.

How to measure California wildfires smoke levels in your neighborhood

The district’s official readings for fine particular matter (or pollutants) showed 163 in Napa and Vallejo at 5 a.m. Tuesday, while Redwood City had a reading of 153. Any reading between 151-200 is considered unhealthful to anyone to breathe.

In San Rafael, the reading was 125; Pleasanton showed 119, and Livermore was at 103, figures considered unhealthy for anyone with underlying health and breathing conditions. Concord was at 99, a figure considered moderately unhealthy.

A breeze that was moving from the southwest toward the northwest also was in motion and that flow also has the potential to disperse some of the smoke, King said. It also was keeping the temperatures down; mid-90s were expected Tuesday in the far East Bay, but the rest of the Bay Area was expected to be in the 70s and 80s, according to King.

The marine layer also has brought with it a bit more moisture, and King said that humidity is creating better firefighting conditions in lower elevations.

“It’s going to help the firefighters,” he said. “It’s going to add moisture onto the ground and to some of the finer vegetation fuels. They’ll be coated with a bit more water. So that will slow down how fast the fires will move.”

The SCU Complex fire is burning in multiple counties, including Alameda County and Santa Clara County. The CZU Complex fire is burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the LNU Complex fire is burning in the Wine Country.