Utah’s Recent Air Quality Deemed Among Worst in the Nation Due to Recent Inversions and Weather Patterns

10 minutes to read

Residents of the Salt Lake Valley in Utah have recently experienced an inversion, which is a meteorological condition where a cap of warm air keeps cold air trapped close to the ground.

This is fairly common during Utah winters, but this year, Utah’s air quality during the inversion has been ranked among the worst in the nation. Additionally, inversions and similar weather conditions are fairly likely to happen in any major valley, particularly those that experience snowstorms.

In this article, Camfil air filtration experts explain what causes an inversion and how to protect yourself against the accompanying poor air quality should you ever experience one.

What is an inversion?

An inversion is a meteorological phenomenon that involves the inversion of typical air patterns. Generally, it’s warmer near the ground and colder at higher altitudes. During an inversion, the opposite is true: warm air rises up into the atmosphere while cold air is trapped closer to the ground.

“A temperature inversion is a layer in the atmosphere in which air temperature increases with height. An inversion is present in the lower part of a cap. The cap is a layer of relatively warm air aloft (above the inversion). Air parcels rising into this layer become cooler than the surrounding environment, which inhibits their ability to ascend.”

— National Weather Service Glossary’s definition of inversion

Why do inversions happen?

Utah’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) names...

Read Full Story: https://cleanair.camfil.us/2023/02/15/utahs-recent-air-quality-deemed-among-worst-in-the-nation-due-to-recent-inversions-and-weather-patterns/

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.