I visited my family home in Reno, Nevada this past August: I don't think that the air quality ever dropped below the "unhealthy" level and spent most of the time in the "hazardous" range. The index, which tops out at 500, was regularly in the 200's and reached the 400's due to the Dixie fire and then the Caldor fire, which was still small when I left. Ash was visible in the air, like tiny flurries of snow, and accumulating on cars.
It turns out that I wasn't alone: the Washington Post reports that nearly 1 in 3 Americans has already experienced a weather disaster in 2021, including the fires but also storms like Ida. The New York Times reports that Ida dropped more in New York City in one hour than has even fallen there, at least as long as rainfall has been tracked. It turns out that hotter temperatures increase the intensity of storms. The below graphic shows the heightened intensity, but it may be hard to see; regardless, it's real!
