PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Arizona is set to break one record this weekend that was set back in the 70s, but it\u2019s not for heat or rain. Instead, it\u2019s for air quality.<\/p>\n
According to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, as of Saturday, the state has gone 58 days without exceeding unhealthy levels of ozone. And that just happens to be the record that was set back in 1979.<\/p>\n
Ozone forms when pollution from cars and energy plants mixes with the sunlight. This can cause irritation for people with lung problems.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s rather significant because normally we expect on average about 55 exceedance days per year for ozone. We\u2019re at 21 so far this year, so we\u2019re half of that. We usually see about 15 in July; we saw zero this past July,\u201d said Michael Graves, an air quality meteorologist with the state. \u201cSo we\u2019re way behind on that. It has been an unusual year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graves said the reason ozone levels have been down is because of the weather system that\u2019s been keeping the monsoon away. Because the monsoon made a return this week, he expects ozone levels to go up this upcoming week, possibly into the unhealthy levels, especially with the expected heat.<\/p>\n
See the ADEQ air quality forecast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n