The Lehigh Valley/Berks Area Air Quality Forecast for Wednesday, March 26
Fine Particulates (PM 2.5) – Code GREEN Regional Maximum PM 2.5 Concentrations: Monday, March 24, 2008: PM 2.5 – GREEN (35 AQI or 10.8 µg/m3) Short-Term Discussion: Light showers are working their way eastward out of Michigan at the moment. Clouds should thicken as this system approaches our area later this evening. These showers may eventually affect our region early tomorrow morning though the bulk of the precipitation is forecast to stay well to our north. Fine-particulate concentrations are currently in the good range. Increasing clouds overnight with the possibility of some light showers developing over portions of the forecast area. Precipitation should fall in the form of rain as most areas should stay in the mid 30s except in the higher elevations to our north. Mostly cloudy with a passing shower in the morning though we should see some breaks in the overcast and an increase in the wind later in the afternoon. Temperatures will climb into the mid 50s. Westerly winds and drier air should keep Wednesday’s fine-particulate concentrations in the codeGREEN (good) range. Extended: A frontal boundary should develop over the forecast area later this week. This means we are probably in for an extended period of clouds and showers that could last through Friday. While temperatures should stay on the cool side, they should be warm enough to keep the bulk of any precipitation in liquid form. Air-quality readings should fluctuate between the good and moderate ranges over the next several days. Spring must be coming because the ice on Lake Erie is beginning to break up! The Buffalo NWS Office has a nice site showing ice-melt progress. If you are interested click here: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/buf/lakeffect/ice0708/index_0708.htm (note recent winds have shoved most of the ice against the southern and eastern sides of the lake)
