U.S. Air Quality

Haze in California and poor air quality in Utah

The main air quality problems today are in California and Utah. California continued to experience persistent haze in its central valley, clearly visible from the MODIS satellite instrument (left image). Conditions were moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups (yellow to orange). Northern Utah had increasing fine particle levels (right), reaching 50-60 ug/m3 in Provo and Salt Lake City. The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has issued air quality alerts for the today and the next two days, with conditions expected to be code orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups). The higher particle concentrations are vaguely visible in the MODIS image but are obscured by snow and clouds.