With widespread snow cover it’s not surprising to researchers that ozone has been exceeding EPA standards but there are other factors leaving them scratching their heads. Bingham Research Center Director Dr. Seth Lyman shared on Monday that Basin air quality got a fresh start on January 17th but ozone slowly built up again through the week and weekend with the prospect of a storm on Sunday and Monday clearing it out. That’s not what happened, however. Dr. Lyman says the storm front created some cloud cover and, for reasons he doesn’t quite understand, it kept ozone from decreasing at night like it normally does. In fact, ozone was then higher than normal in the morning and jumped up quickly that day. The call to action continues as all are urged to reduce emissions to help keep ozone as low as possible.
