U.S. Air Quality

Moderate to Unhealthy Air Quality in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern California

Air quality was primarily in the moderate (yellow) to unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange) range over the mid-Atlantic and parts of the Southeast (left image, UW MODIS Aqua RGB and EPA AIRNow AQI), but improved somewhat compared with the weekend values we reported. The orange monitors in the mid-Atlantic and the code red monitor in Charlotte, NC are due to elevated ozone concentrations, although the PM2.5 AQI was also in the moderate range throughout the southeast. It is still very hot and humid in D.C, where temperatures reached 96F and dew points were elevated. The haze over the eastern U.S is also still visible in the MODIS imagery over land, as well as over the Atlantic off the coast of North Carolina. The NOAA GASP AOD (right image) also shows the regions of high aerosol over North Carolina and over the ocean. Today the aerosol over the ocean off the Maryland and Virginia coast does not seem as high as we reported yesterday due to the continued circulation, and the advection of cleaner air over the Atlantic.

The NOAA HMS analysis for today (left) suggests that the North Carolina smoke has spread throughout the southeast. See also today's HMS smoke text . In the western half of the country (right image, UW MODIS Aqua RGB and EPA AIRNow AQI), high temperatures and lots of sunshine lead to unhealthy for sensitive groups (orange) ozone air quality in southern California. In LA, the PM2.5 AQI also reached code orange range. Code orange conditions (for ozone) were also recorded today in Phoenix, Arizona. Summer time has also reached the southeast.