Happy Monday Bloggers-
Ozone concerns have been a part of the forecast this June, so what gives? The weather pattern that we watch for when it comes to promoting ozone is high pressure.
But let's backtrack and talk a bit about what ozone is and why it's a problem.
Ozone serves a purpose in the upper part of the atmosphere where it blocks harmful UV rays. But down here, where we live, it can make breathing more difficult.
To put it simply, ozone makes it more difficult for your lungs to absorb oxygen.
Living in a city, we produce more pollution because we have more people, and those people are all driving, refueling their cars, mowing lawns and completing lots of other fossil fuel-related activities. Those emissions interact with sunlight and heat to break down into ozone.
So when we have a weather pattern that creates stagnant air and sunshine, we always have to watch for extra ozone development.
And that's exactly what we've got on tap this week, lots of high pressure.
The basic equation for ozone development is pollution + sunlight (aka UV rays). Under high pressure, we tend to have fewer clouds, meaning more sunlight to spark the reaction of ozone, lower wind speeds to prevent the pollution from mixing out and drier weather, which allows the ozone to remain in the air.
Today, we are under the seventh Ozone Alert of the season.
And Tuesday will be the eighth.
SkyCast is issuing an orange Ozone Alert for tomorrow, Tuesday, June 20. Please take steps to protect your health and reduce pollution. Learn how: https://t.co/FRCt9n0sPF pic.twitter.com/tbP52qQEB3
— MARC AirQ Program (@airqkc) June 19, 2023
The Mid-America Regional Council monitors air quality for metro counties and says this year we are off to a fast start compared to years past.
Ozone Alerts
- 2016: 3
- 2017: 4
- 2018: 10
- 2019: 0
- 2020: 0
- 2021: 4
- 2022: 2
One thing that could be contributing to some of our early-season ozone concerns is the Canadian wildfires. Basically, wildfires produce a chemical that also reacts with sunlight to increase ozone concerns.
Ozone is now 'Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups' in the Metro. Ozone is usually a mid summer problem for us but our recent ozone concerns are not summer heat related. They are fueled by noxious gas from the Canadian fires. So while the smoke isn't drifting in, other chemicals are! pic.twitter.com/h5sm7W4YSY
— ☀️ Cassie Wilson (@CassieKSHB) June 15, 2023
When it comes to breaking down this pattern, there isn't much hope — we are going to be hot and dry for a hot minute.
Your week ahead is hot & dry! And the storm we are watching to break this trend isn't all that great. We are relying on a system to round our ridge come this weekend... but right now the main storm track will be to our north, so here's to hoping we can tap into more! @KSHB41 pic.twitter.com/EcB5Ez7Nd5
— ☀️ Cassie Wilson (@CassieKSHB) June 19, 2023
The end of the month into early July doesn't look much better. We've got a ridge meandering around the desert southwest that could hold through the next 8-14 days.
It's safe to say summer is here and we may be dealing with more ozone concerns for the bulk of this work week.
Stay safe, stay healthy and stay up to date with our blog!
