U.S. Air Quality

Code Orange Ozone in southern CA, smoke in Central America

Good Air quality (measured in hourly PM 2.5 AQI) dominated the nation today, with some scattered Moderate AQI around Ohio and southern California for parts of the day. Ozone was quiet across the country except for southern California, where Code Orange levels were reached in the afternoon.

Most of the eastern half of the country was covered in weather systems, making any identification of smoke or other items difficult. That being said, no substantial plumes or haze were seen. This is in agreement with NOAA’s fire hazard mapping system, which does not show any smoke plumes in the U.S. There are, however, a number of large plumes in Central America, and it is possible that some of that smoke could move into the U.S. in coming days.