Weekend Air Quality Forecast
Saturday, March 15, 2008: Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code GREEN Sunday, March 16, 2008: Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code GREEN Monday, March 17, 2008: Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code GREEN
Regional Maximum PM 2.5 Concentrations: Thursday, March 14, 2008: PM 2.5 – YELLOW (61 AQI or 20.5 µg/m3) Short-Term Discussion: Mostly sunny skies across the region; showers are currently pushing into the western end of the state and should arrive here later this evening. Quite pleasant with temperatures in the 50s with an outside chance we may see 60. Air-quality readings have risen into the mid to upper moderate range this afternoon. These should begin to fall once the rain arrives tonight. Cloudy with rain and fog expected overnight with temperatures falling towards 40 degrees. Lingering showers Saturday morning with brisk northwesterly winds. Skies will clear gradually in the afternoon with temperatures expected to reach the mid 50s. Fine-particulate concentration should fall throughout the day as drier air is ushered in by northwesterly winds. This should be enough to lower Saturday’s fine-particulate concentrations into the code GREEN (good) range. Another storm system will make its way out of the country’s midsection causing clouds to increase overnight. Rain may develop towards morning though the bulk of the precipitation is forecast to pass to our south. Any rain should end and skies should begin to clear by the afternoon. Brisk northerly winds will develop behind this system making it feel chilly as temperatures struggle to get into the 40s. Brisk winds and drier air should keep Sunday’s fine-particulate concentrations in the code GREEN (good) range. Mainly clear and breezy overnight with temperatures expected to fall into the 20s. Becoming mostly sunny with diminishing winds and afternoon temperatures near 50 degrees. Monday’s fine-particulate concentrations should begin to rise but overall remain mainly in the code GREEN (good) range. Extended: A quick check of the rain gauges across the forecast region confirms we’ve been running well above average so far this year. We should get a bit of a reprieve to start out next week though rain could be back in our picture as soon as Tuesday. Temperatures are forecast to be a bit below where we should be for this time of year (50s for his and 30s for lows). With this quick progression of systems we don’t expect air-quality readings to move much above the moderate range.
