Air quality expected to remain at code purple
A National Weather Service Representative told the Butler Eagle Thursday afternoon the worst air quality conditions may still be to come and the Butler area will continue to be blanketed by smoky air Friday, July 17.
Butler was one of several counties in Pennsylvania that faced a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection code purple air quality alert Thursday, July 16, due to Canadian wild fire smoke from Western Ontario moving into the region. The status is predicted to remain there on Friday, according to airnow.gov.
“Right now with everything we’re looking at, we’ll continue to see degrading air quality into the afternoon and evening. The worst may be still to come,” said Andrew Kienzle of the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh station. “Friday will feature similar levels of diminished air quality later on and well into the afternoon.
“We will not see our first break from pretty unhealthy air conditions until sunrise on Saturday morning.”
Friday’s NWS forecast for Butler also includes “widespread smoke.”
Late Friday night and Saturday morning, there is a chance of rain showers and thunderstorms that could potentially break up the smoky air.
“It looks like with wind shifts and a little bit of rain showers across area, hopefully smoke will clear out to the north and east,” Kienzle said.
Code purple signifies the air contains a “very unhealthy concentration” of particulate matter, which is formed by a combination of particles from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota and droplets in the air.
The department recommends those with respiratory conditions, older adults and young children avoid the outdoors entirely. Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion.
The alert is in effect for Butler, Mercer, Lawrence, Venango, Clarion, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, McKean and Warren counties.
“During Code Purple air quality alerts, all residents should avoid long or intense outdoor activities, and sensitive groups — such as children, elderly residents and those with respiratory illnesses — should avoid all outdoor activities. All residents are encouraged to move activities indoors,” a DEP news release said.
The department said the smoke is creating air quality concentrations of PM2.5, which means fine inhalable particles of particulate matter with diameters of 2.5 micrometers and smaller unhealthy to all groups may be in the air.
The particulate matter forms from a mixture of solid particles from the wildfires and liquid droplets in the air, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It explained that relative to 2.5 micrometers, the average human hair is about 70 micrometers in diameter, which means a hair is about 30 times larger than the finest particles in the air.
The agency said fine particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter pose the greatest risk to health as the particles are inhaled deep into the lungs, sometimes entering the bloodstream.
The department recommends checking airnow.gov to view the current air quality.
