Air Quality Conditions for February 22, 2007 and Extended Forecast

Date: Thursday, February 22, 2007
Action Day?: No
Temperature: Low to Mid 40s
Discussion:
One of the potentially final Alberta Clippers of the season will push across the Commonwealth and produce a period of light rain showers in the early afternoon as the air ahead of the cold front will be in the low mid 40 degree range. Behind this front, winds will shift from the southwest to the northwest and become strong in nature, marking the onset of a cool-down to close out the week. Air quality concentrations will likely be elevated early in the day, until the front passes and the northwesterly flow begins to decrease fine particulate levels. A code YELLOW daily average of fine particulates is expected.

Extended:
Friday and much of Saturday will feature fair skies and brisk, seasonably cool temperatures as strong northwesterly winds will return a taste of winter as morning lows could fall into the upper teens and only climb into the mid and upper 30s for daytime highs. Clouds should thicken later Saturday as a warm front associated with a disturbance developing over the Mississippi Valley will move towards the region. This system will likely create a wet ending to the weekend, with a brief period of frozen precipitation possible when the activity begins Sunday morning. Air quality concentrations look to improve on Friday and Saturday with code GREEN levels likely in response to the cool, dry northwesterly flow before PM 2.5 concentrations begin to build behind the warm front on Sunday.

 

Simmens To Present Global Warming Seminar In Easton

 Lance Simmens will present “Global Warming – What Is It and Why Should I Care?” at the Quality Inn in downtown Easton (3rd Street & Larry Holmes Drive) at 7p Monday, February 26. The program includes a slide presentation and lasts roughly one hour, including up-to-date information on climate trends and the extent to which human activity is involved. Simmens will focus on solutions — what individuals,
organizations, and government can do — and will take questions from the audience following the presentation.

Simmens recently said that “This powerful evidence is a clarion call to all citizens of the planet to seriously consider the impacts and consequences of global warming. This could be the most critical issue facing the 21st century, and nothing short of the survival of the planet is at stake.”

Simmens has held senior public policy positions for over 30 years and has served in a variety of positions at the federal, state and local levels of government. He was instrumental in establishing the first
Office of Sustainable Development in the Federal government. Located in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, its mission was to balance the dual principles of economic development and
environmental stewardship in the search for a comprehensive solution to natural resource disasters.

This event is free and open to the public, sponsored by the City of Easton, the Alliance for Sustainable Communities-Lehigh Valley, the Green Valley Coalition, Lehigh Valley Beyond Oil, the Mid Atlantic
Renewable Energy Association, the One With the Earth project, the Pennsylvania League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club-Lehigh Valley Group, and the Sustainable Business Network of the Lehigh Valley.

The Alliance is in the process of scheduling additional presentations for Allentown, Bethlehem, and Kutztown.

Air Quality Conditions for February 21 & Extended Forecast

Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Action Day?:  No 

Temperature:  Mid 40s

Discussion:
After any remaining rain and snow showers depart off the coast early in the morning, a weak ridge of high pressure will build across Pennsylvania on Wednesday to generate mostly sunny skies and slightly above normal temperatures, with mid 40s expected for daytime highs. Fine particulate concentrations will continue at moderate levels.

 Extended:
A fast moving upper level disturbance will pass through on Thursday rather uneventfully aside from ushering in a temporary break from the recent warmup. Winds will become brisk and shift out of the northwest late in the day Thursday and cooler, drier air will work into the region. Highs on Friday could struggle to get out of the mid 30s under fair skies and continued blustery winds. The next chance of significant precipitation appears to be late Sunday as a burly low-pressure center is expected to move into the Upper Great Lakes and produce a rain event locally. Air quality concentrations should follow the temperature trends, with fine particulate levels falling into the code GREEN realm for Friday before creeping back towards the moderate range over the weekend.

Air Quality Conditions For February 16, 2007

Date: Friday, February 16, 2007
Action Day?: No
Temperature: Mid 20s
Discussion: Friday will be another brisk and sunny mid-February day, with blustery west/northwest winds continuing to provide a supply of cold and dry air. Morning lows should again flirt with the single digits, however the afternoon high looks to be a few degrees higher than Thursday with mid 20’s expected. Fine particulate concentrations will maintain code GREEN status due to the gusty winds and dry, cool nature of the airmass.

Extended: The holiday weekend will start off with a slight moderation in temperatures as winds weaken and shift out of the southwest to allow afternoon highs to reach near freezing under partly sunny skies. Clouds look to thicken later Saturday night as a weak clipper system moves through, possibly bringing a round of flurries or light snow into early Sunday. Mostly cloudy skies and below normal temperatures will linger through Sunday before skies clear out for President’s Day. Air quality concentrations should build into the moderate range on Saturday before the clipper system lowers fine particulate levels by Monday.

No Need To Idle Your Car, Even In The Cold

Dan Hartzell had a very good piece in his Road Warrior column in the  Allentown Morning Call on Monday.    Dan explains why most cars don’t need to be “warmed up” before taking to the road, even in the cold of winter.

Air Quality Conditions For February 14, 2007 and Week’s End

Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Action Day?: No
Temperature: Upper 20s

Discussion: A mixture of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain will continue through the morning hours of Wednesday before turning back to a period of snow in the middle part of the day as cold air rushes in through all levels of the atmosphere. Total snowfall accumulations for the event should generally end up in the 6 to 10” range across the partnership area, with greater amounts the further north one is located. Light to moderate ice accumulation is quite likely by sunrise. Winds will be strong throughout the day, with easterly flow eventually shifting to the northwest in the afternoon to further complicate matters with blowing snow. The brisk nature of the boundary layer and heavy precipitation early in the day should provide code GREEN levels of fine particulates.

In the wake of the major winter storm, the general weather will become noticeably benign to close out the week. Winds will remain strong out of the northwest on Thursday as the coastal low further strengthens and heads into the Canadian Maritimes. Otherwise, temperatures will continue to be below normal, with morning lows in the teens and afternoon highs in the mid 20s Thursday and Friday before a slight warm-up over the weekend. Fine particulate levels should hold in the code GREEN realm through the end of the workweek behind the very dry, brisk northwest flow before winds transition out of the southwest by Saturday to push PM 2.5 concentrations towards the moderate threshold.

What Are You Doing For Clean Air?

Are you a civic or educational group doing something to improve Air Quality in Lehigh, Northampton or Berks Counties? If so, we want to hear about your efforts! Please be encouraged to use this blog as a clearinghouse for ideas and communication around local/regional air quality issues, and let us know what you’re up to!

Last year, Keith Williams was honored with the R. Emmet Doherty Clearn Air Award for his work for air quality in the region.   This year’s honoree will be named at the Partnership’s Anual Spring Meeting this May, which will coincide with the American Lung Assocation’s Clear Air Month.  If you’re not currently a member of our partnership but are interested in promoting air quality in our community, please leave a comment on this post or sign up here.

Keith Williams, 2006 R. Emmet Doherty Clear Air Award Honoree

Lehigh Valley Berks Air Quality Set To Participate In Earth Day 2007 Event

The Lehigh Valley – Berks Air Quality Partnership will take part in PPL’s 2nd Annual Earth Day on the Plaza on Friday, April 20 the PPL Corporate Complex at 9th and Hamilton Streets, 11 AM – 4:30 PM. The event will have a festival-like atmosphere, yet be highly educational. This free, outdoor event will include hands-on activities for children, informational sessions for individuals of all ages, music and refreshments. This year’s theme is the same as last year–Learn. Act. Celebrate.–because it fits exactly what we all need to accomplish not only on Earth Day but every day. We had a great time at last year’s event and are looking forward to this one.  Anyone interested in helping with our display should respond to this post. 

AQP Attends Green Building Presentation

On February 1, representatives from the Lehigh Valley – Berks AQP attended “How to build a Net-Zero Energy Home,” a presentation sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Green Builders Association and the Delaware Valley Green Builders Council and hosted by Lehigh Cement.    Jackie O’Neill spoke about her experiences in building two net zero energy LEED 2 homes in our region, and a general summary of her project can be found here.

Air Quality Conditions For February 6, 7 2007

GOOD PM2.5 conditions are forecast for today and tomorrow in the Greater Lehigh Valley, though  MODERATE conditions are being observed in the region as of 2:20 PM EST.  Ozone levels in the Greater Lehigh Valley are GOOD.

Good	0-50	Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
Moderate	51-100	Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.