Recent Posts

Air Quality Blog A screenshot of the Air Quality Portal dashboard containing air quality and weather forecasts

Air Quality Updates: What to Watch for in 2022

 By Bradley McLamb, Heather Wylie, Elliot Tardif and Corey Davis That feeling of spring in the air will soon be joined by powdery puffs of pollen, some sniffs of smoke, and potentially even occasional unhealthy...
Air Quality Blog This graphic depicts what a cross-section of a surface temperature inversion looks like. There is a sunshine in the sky, some little houses to indicate smoke from residential wood burning, and mountains to depict pollution being trapped in a valley thanks to the warm air aloft.

Winter Air Quality

 By Heather Wylie Have you noticed how fine particulate readings in the morning are often higher than the afternoon during the winter months? This is often due to...
Air Quality Blog Diagram of a BAM air quality monitor.

Air Quality Monitoring

 By Heather Wylie Earlier this month we discussed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), but how do we measure air quality to ensure our air is within...
Air Quality Blog PM2.5 concentrations, winds, and NOAA OSPO’s smoke analysis at 3 pm on July 21, 2021.

AIR Tool Offers Air Quality and Weather Data, in Detail

 By Corey Davis and Bradley McLamb This post originally appeared on the State Climate Office’s Climate Blog in August 2021 coinciding with the public launch of the Ambient Information Reporter. The State Climate Office...
Air Quality Blog A satellite image of North Carolina is shown. There are pins on the map to show the locations of monitoring sites across the state.

Air Quality Monitoring

 By Heather Wylie A Statewide Effort Last month we discussed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), but how do we measure air quality to ensure our air...
Air Quality Blog

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

 By Heather Wylie In an earlier post, we discussed the Air Quality Index and how it measures the state of the air. We mentioned that the breakpoints for...
Air Quality Blog An image from a satelllie showing smoke transport from the September 2017 wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Hazy brown smoke is being carried by the jet stream from coast to coast across the United States.Actively burning areas are outlined in red. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team, GSFC

Atmospheric Dispersion and Pollution Transport

 By Heather Wylie In our forecast discussion, we will occasionally mention things like “limited dispersion” or “low mixing heights” – have you ever wondered what that means? It...
Air Quality Blog Text from image: Air Quality Alert Message Relayed by National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC 1035 AM EDT Sat May 22 2021 NCZ071-082-231445- Mecklenburg-Union NC- Including the cities of Charlotte, Huntersville, Matthews, Monroe, Trinity, Indian Trail, and Weddington 1035 AM EDT Sat May 22 2021 ...AIR QUALITY ALERT IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THIS EVENING... The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality in Raleigh NC has issued a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for Ground Level Ozone for Mecklenburg and Union Counties, until 8 PM EDT this evening. An Air Quality Action Day means that Ground Level Ozone concentrations within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards. For additional information, please visit the North Carolina Division of Air Quality Web site at https://xapps.ncdenr.org/aq/ForecastCenterEnvista.

Air Quality Alerts

 By Heather Wylie Occasionally, meteorologists at the Division of Air Quality will send out an Air Quality Alert – What does that mean? In our typical day to...
Air Quality Blog

All About the Air Quality Index

 By Heather Wylie The Air Quality Index The Air Quality Index, or AQI, is a way to convey the state of air quality to the population. It is...
Air Quality Blog A diagram of ozone formation due to emissions and sunlight

Ground-Level Ozone

 By Heather Wylie Tropospheric vs Stratospheric Ozone While many have heard of the ozone layer high up in the atmosphere that helps to shield the planet from solar...
Air Quality Blog

PM2.5 and Pollen

 By Heather Wylie What is PM2.5? Have you ever wondered what fine particle pollution is, or why we forecast a PM2.5 AQI? Fine particle pollution is made of...
Older Posts Newer Posts