May 5, 2009
Mostly Good Air Quality; Stationary Front and Rain Persist in Eastern U.S.
Today’s air quality was very similar to yesterday’s, as seen in the loops of PM2.5 and ozone AQI values (below). Conditions persisted in the Code Green (Good) range, except for a few areas of Code Yellow (Moderate) PM2.5 in the southern Midwest, south Texas, and southern California.
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One of the main reasons that air quality continued in the Good range today was the persistent stationary front that stubbornly remains draped across the East Coast, Gulf Coast, and Texas, bringing severe weather and flooding rains to much of the Eastern half of the country. Today’s MODIS Aqua true color image, overlaid with the current AQI values and 17:30 UTC synoptic analysis (below) shows the location of the stationary front and the associated cloud cover. What looks like haze in the true color image over west Texas and the Southwest is cirrus clouds.
