Air Quality Update

A couple of weeks ago, I showed you some pictures of the air here where we live. As you may remember, the mountains were pretty obscured in those pictures. Thankfully, a storm blew through a few days after those pictures were taken. I waited for two days, when the skies cleared up, and took this picture. This time, the mountain isn't hiding (in the previous picture, it was very difficult to pick out).

Even though the storm blew the smog out, you can also see how quickly it starts to build up again. We've had some warmer temperatures the last few days, but have still been in "red air day" warnings (which emphasize less driving). Here's another view.

We anticipate another storm moving through this week, which will likely bring more snow (yeah!), cooler temperatures, and a brief clearing. If I get a chance to put up some clear pictures as a point of reference, I'll do it. In the meantime, take a few deep breaths of your nice clean air for me.

Note: Here is an article from the paper today explaining and showing why the bad air is such a problem. The graphic is really great and you can even build your own inversion at home.