Thursday, January 22, 2009

Cough, cough, choke!

Did I mention the poor air quality in Utah????

This was something we found out after we moved to Logan, that the air quality in northern Utah is considered near the worst in the whole nation!! Not that it is always poor, in fact it only gets bad when a high pressure system settles over this part of the state, trapping soot and pollutants close to the ground in the mountain basins. The Cache Valley (which includes Logan) is apparently particularly susceptible. 

We've been experiencing one of these inversions for several days now. I first noticed the smog earlier in the week when I drove into town, descending into a thick layer of yuck as I left the perch of Hillcrest (the community where we live). Today it seemed considerably worse, even the higher communities becoming enveloped in the smog. 

There is even a website that does forecasts and posts warnings. air quality reports. When it the air quality exceeds a certain standard, the local Health Department issues a red air alert, encouraging people to limit exertion while outdoors, bans all wood smoke (including kilns) and suggests limiting vehicular use if possible as to not contribute further air pollutants to the problem. 

What we need is a big storm system to roll in and move the clouds upwards and onwards. And until then, there won't be any pots getting fired in the USU kiln compound. 


1 comment:

gladventurer said...

Interesting website Eden regarding the air quality report. Your'eright YUCK