While there has been less ozone lately thanks to the storms, strong inversions are expected to begin again starting Thursday. “The end of the ozone season is still not in sight,” shares USU Bingham Research Center Director Dr. Seth Lyman. “At this stage in the season we should be getting warm days that rapidly melt out the snow, but the forecast is for more cold and more snow. And in the lower elevations the inversion is making it even colder. The snow can’t last forever, but it could possibly last a few more weeks. By March the effective amount of sunlight available to make ozone, because of reflection off the snow and the longer days and brighter sun, will be higher than, for example, the amount of sunlight available in Los Angeles in June. What we need, as before, is a series of warm storms. Right now they don’t even have to be unseasonably warm.” Dr. Lyman emphasizes that reducing emissions is especially important now. To check on current air quality, visit ubair.usu.edu.
