Northern Utah Is So Filthy!

Source: Google/Dictionary.com

After a slight dip in PM2.5 concentrations yesterday, they are on the climb again today and are now at their highest of the current inversion event in Salt Lake City, reaching a 24-hour average of 61.6 ug/m3 at 10 am this morning.

Source: Utah Division of Air Quality

I don't know about you, but I feel like crap and have a nagging cough.  Whether or not it's pollution related or coincidence is unclear, but I'm sick of it!

Bad air is found in the lowlands all over northern Utah.  Joining in on the fun are Brigham City, Roosevelt, and Vernal, which are now joining locations in Cache, Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele, and Utah Counties at or near the 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM2.5.

Source: Utah Division of Air Quality

I've included ozone concentrations in the graphs above as those are elevated (but below the NAAQS) at Roosevelt and Vernal too.  Elevated wintertime ozone is commonly observed during intense inversions around natural gas fields (e.g., Schnell et al. 2009).

A deep trough approaching from the west should finally bring an end to this sordid episode later this week.

Hopefully the strong southerly flow ahead of that trough will begin to scour things out Wednesday night and Thursday.  The sooner we're rid of this filth, the better.