Utah Air Quality Hits Unhealthy Levels With Recent Wind Shift Along Wasatch Front

Jul 6, 2018, 5:33 PM | Updated: Jun 11, 2020, 10:13 am

KSLTV.com

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah’s air quality along the Wasatch Front has been pretty good this summer, until late Thursday night. Winds shifted before midnight and wafted smoke from the Uintah Basin onto the Wasatch Front, raising particulate pollution to unhealthy levels, according to the Utah cities among worst for air quality in the country.

While particulate pollution dropped to healthy levels during the day, ozone rose to unhealthy levels for people with breathing issues living in the Utah cities among worst for air quality in the country region and along the Wasatch Front.

Most people on the Wasatch Front, and across Northern Utah, could smell the smoke from multiple wildfires and could see it Friday morning. Shifting winds could bring back more of it Saturday, according to meteorologists with the Utah cities among worst for air quality in the country.

“We’re not catching a break this week,” said Jared Mendenhall, a spokesman with the DEQ. “We started out with pollution from fireworks on the Fourth (of July). We ended up with a handful of days in triple digits with a lot of sunshine. That’s perfect ozone formation. Then last night, that smoke got blown in from the Uintah Basin.”

Everybody should avoid breathing it in, said Dr. Nathan Dean, a pulmonary critical care specialist at Intermountain Medical Center. He’s also a runner and a cyclist and said he monitors air pollution closely.

“I check regularly,” he said. “Right on KSL’s website, you can click on the weather and there’s a link that goes right to air quality. That’s the way I get it.”

He’s referring to the growing air quality network on the Utah cities among worst for air quality in the country.

Before Dr. Dean went to bed Thursday night, he smelled smoke. It wasn’t any better by the time he woke up Friday morning.

“It was even worse by the light of day,” he said.

Pollutions Levels From Smoke Match Winter Inversion

Unhealthy levels of particulate were polluting most Northern Utah communities.

“I did not ride my bike to work as I normally do,” said Dr. Dean.

The pollution from burning wood in wildfires was the same PM 2.5 particulate pollution that fouls our air during temperature inversions in the winter.

“Until it clears, there will be all sorts of health effects,” he said.

Hospitals may see increased cases of pneumonia and bronchial infection. People with asthma may experience inflamed airways.

“They’ll cough more,” he said. “Unfortunately, everybody is affected by this.”

Healthy people will cough more and may feel a burning in the chest while exercising.

“It’s just a small signal as to what’s really going on your lungs. I think there are long-term consequences to this,” said Dr. Dean.

He said particulate pollution contains known carcinogens.

“It goes into the lungs and sticks,” he said.

He suggested that residents minimize exposure to outdoor air while pollution levels are elevated.

“Unlike the wintertime, you can’t just go up to the mountains, because the mountains are smoky right now. I just hope and pray for the firefighters to get control of the fires,” said Dr. Dean.

A change in the weather means everything on the fire lines, and it’s the same story with all of the smoke pumped out by fires throughout the region.

“Where it had typically been going to Colorado, now it kind of backed up and the winds circulated that (smoke) right into the Wasatch Front,” said Mendenhall. “We started seeing those numbers elevate right around 10 or 11 p.m.”

Winds blew lot of the smoke away as the day progressed on Friday, so particulate pollution improved. However, with the heating of the day, ozone levels rose. So, Utah was not getting a break on air quality.

Check out the growing air quality network on the KSL Weather page that Dr. Dean referenced, or download the UtahAir app. He said those are the best ways to track unhealthy air in your neighborhood.

Click the image below for the KSL Air Quality page: