Unhealthy Air Quality Across & South Of The Birmingham Metropolitan Area This Morning

As of 9:00 AM, the Air Quality Index for today is currently at 57 (Code Yellow) for the city of Birmingham as of the latest reading, but earlier this morning, the index was as high as 161, putting that in a Code Red situation.

During the day on Wednesday, Bibb County conducted some prescribed burns in their area, and the smoke from those fires traveled into the Birmingham Metropolitan Area and was trapped near the surface during the overnight and early morning hours today. The good news is that a cold front will be moving through the area today and a surface high will begin to build. Winds will start to slowly increase as the day progresses and will help push the smoke out of the area and improve our air quality.

Here is a breakdown of the Air Quality Index…

0-50 – Good (Code Green)
… Air quality is considered, and air pollution poses little to no risk.

51-100 – Moderate (Code Yellow)
… Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

101-150 – Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups (Code Orange)
… Although general public is not likely to be affected at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air.

151-200 – Unhealthy (Code Red)
… Everyone may begin to experience health effects members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.

201-300 – Very Unhealthy (Code Purple)
… Health alert: everyone may experience more serious health effects.

301-500 – Hazardous (Code Maroon)
… Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.

Tags: ANC

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