Hey Weather Blog readers, Wes here to talk about the finer details about air quality.
I got a call this morning from a woman who wanted to know if it was OK to mow her lawn in the morning despite a 'code orange' air quality alert being in effect for Thursday.
Side note: to learn more about the air quality alert levels, visit the EPA's website here
I assured her it was fine in the morning and told her that the alert only applied to the afternoon where there is concern for ground level ozone(a chemical reaction between sunlight and emissions) formation.
The nice woman then informed me she lives in Johnson County, Kansas, away from the peak ozone formation zone. That's when I realized, she didn't need to be concerned about ozone formation at her location at all.
Check out where our air quality measuring sites are located:
There aren't many located inside the heart of the Kansas City area, just the one in Kansas City, Kansas.
That one is also located in the hottest part of town and where relatively high amounts of industrial and transportation emissions occur; the highest amount of ozone formation usually occurs there too. When that KCK sensor starts reading high amounts, then all of the KC Metro is considered to be experiencing poor air quality.
But in reality, the entire metro is NOT experiencing poor air quality.
Wednesday is a good example as we had some moderate level of ozone formation. Take a look at the hourly readings in KCK at the aforementioned station.
Of course, it spikes in the afternoon. Now,;Let's look at the station between Kearney, Missouri and Liberty, Missouri:
It is nowhere near KCK but it is close to manufacturing facilities where emissions are released, so we see another spike into yellow and orange.
Let's continue our journey into Johnson County, Kansas.
A much smaller increase in the afternoon and the ozone levels are lower in general.
The same thing occurs in Cass County, Missouri, where there is never an increase into the unhealthy category.
All the counties above with air quality monitoring stations are included in the Kansas City metro, but aren't actually experiencing the same poor air quality.
Usually when ozone is forming, there is relatively light wind so the ozone isn't blowing around like smoke or dust.
So unless you live near an industrial area, an area with heavy automobile traffic, or somewhere with very little area tree cover, it's unlikely you will experience high levels poor air quality.
Those of you that do live in these susceptible areas, please read the latest information from the EPA how to be safe.
The weather team will continue to keep you informed on the air quality levels and address the differences based on location during forecasts.
