Your eyes and nose are not deceiving you; the skies are pretty gnarly on Monday, with Salt Lake City currently holding the distinction of having the worst air quality in the entire U.S.
REAL-TIME AIR QUALITY: Click here to see air quality readings for your neighborhood with AirView
While it holds the top spot in the country with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 104, Salt Lake City is only ranked 32nd overall in the world as of 4:30 p.m., far behind Delhi, which has a whopping AQI of 485.
According to IQAir, which powers the air quality rankings, Salt Lake City's is "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups," which means children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with cardiac or pulmonary diseases should monitor how much time they spend outside.
Live video of Salt Lake City skyline shows poor air quality conditions:
The designation is expected to remain in place on Tuesday and possibly through the remainder of the week, as the inversion strengthens and takes air quality down with it.
“I think it’s a little bit misleading because it’s really bad for all of us,” said Dr. Denitza Blagev of the ranking.
Blagev is a pulmonary physician with Intermountain Health and says even those who have no symptoms should be aware of the poor air quality.
“That air pollution exposure, cumulatively over time, increases our risks of becoming one of the sensitive groups,” she said.
Damon Yauney explains the current inversion condition and when relief may come:
The prolonged periods of inversion are what worry the doctor.
“Day one, when the air pollution happens, is not when people start rushing into the emergency department. It’s really over several days,” she explained.
The rainy start to the new year, which kept the inversion away from the northern valleys, was replaced by a recent ridge of high pressure that created the situation where much of northern Utah sees itself. Cold temperatures will remain in the valleys this week due to the layer of warmer air that remains on top due to inversion conditions.
Relief is forecast to come by the end of the week, thanks to a storm front that is expected to brush by the area and take the inversion and its hazy air with it.
