One of the positives resulting from the mild winter this year has to do with air quality. The Bingham Research Center confirms that there have been no winter ozone exceedances so far and air quality has been great this winter. That stated, there is a risk of inversion formation next week depending on the snow that is expected later this week and if it sticks around. The winter ozone update for this week states that “as we enter March and the tail-end of the Winter Ozone season, there are two competing factors that affect ozone levels. The strengthening sunlight enables faster formation of atmospheric ozone within an inversion, but this sunshine also melts snow, and the warming ground can mix out an inversion.” So while they aren’t quite ready to declare this winter an ozone victory it is certainly looking possible and even likely.
