Growing fast at any cost - public health and the environment. Federal Clean Air Violations
Forecast Discussion:[View the ADEQ Hourly Forecast for Phoenix]
Our primary focus today is on the PM2.5 (smoke) concentrations across the Valley as we ring in 2020.
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Maricopa County and the Phoenix Metro Area have consistently violated federal Clean Air Standards for decades. . . It's only getting worse as the ADEQ continues to do practically nothing to reduce the toxic effects of contaminated air that is dangerous to health.
In one word: NONATTAINMENT.
The last annual report from Arizona Memory Project Digital Collection is 2009. __________________________________________________________________________
"The rain that fell on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day has helped the Phoenix area's air quality, with both days staying well below the federal health standard. That’s according to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
“We’ve seen periods of rain, periods of breezes and that really helps to flush out the atmosphere so even where we’re looking at Christmas Day itself, yesterday, here in Phoenix we actually came in with a PM2.5 value at 59AQI which is the lowest value that we’ve seen since records go back to 2010," said meteorologist Matt Pace.
Although the air quality is better than what Arizona typically sees this time of year, Pace says residents are still encouraged to make efforts to limit pollution."
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"The clouds yesterday and this morning are from a low-pressure system currently located just off the spur of Baja. As this system continues moving toward the east-southeast, clouds will clear out of the region later this afternoon. It will be replaced with a weak and short-lived area of high-pressure tonight into tomorrow morning.
This set-up will mean calm winds across the Valley later today through the morning hours tomorrow. Combine this with the increase in fireplace/fire pit use along with fireworks, and PM2.5 concentrations are forecast to increase tonight into tomorrow morning. The highest concentrations are forecast to be between midnight and 1 am tonight as this is when the bulk of the PM2.5 will be generated. Values will remain elevated through the morning hours New Year's Day, with air quality likely ending the day in the Unhealthy AQI category.
A PM2.5 High Pollution Advisory is in effect today and New Year's Day. Due to the high levels of smoke forecast, PM10 concentrations will also likely exceed the federal health standard, so a PM-10 High Pollution Advisory is also in place on New Year's Day.
A weak weather disturbance is forecast to drop south-southeast into the state late New Year's Day, which should help to disperse some of the left-over PM2.5 from New Year's celebrations. Due to this, the High Pollution Advisory will not be extended into Thursday.
High pressure will build into the region Friday through the weekend, which will result in a warming trend and more calm winds. In fact, high temperatures Friday into the weekend are forecast to be in the upper 60s.
Happy New Year, and see you in the next decade!
M. Pace 
