DEP Begins 2016 Ozone Forecasting, Get Email Alerts Of Bad Air Days

This week Pennsylvania will begin ozone forecasting for 27 counties in Pennsylvania for the 2016 season. DEP monitors ambient ozone concentrations year-round and makes air quality forecasts for ground-level ozone during the spring and summer months.

The daily forecasts, developed in conjunction with local Air Quality Partnerships, use a color-based Air Quality index for air quality conditions.

Green signifies good air quality; yellow means moderate conditions; orange represents pollution levels that could trigger health effects for sensitive people, such as the very young, the elderly, and those with respiratory ailments; and red warns of pollution levels that could trigger health effects for all members of the population.

The following areas and counties will have daily forecasting:

-- Lehigh Valley / Berks area – Berks, Lehigh and Northampton

-- Philadelphia area – Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia (forecasts that are completed by Penn State University)

-- Pittsburgh area – Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland

-- Susquehanna Valley area – Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon, and York

-- Altoona - Blair County

-- Erie – Erie County

-- Indiana County

-- Johnstown – Cambria County

-- Mercer County

-- Scranton / Wilkes-Barre – Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties

-- State College – Centre County

-- Williamsport – Lycoming County

These forecasts are provided in cooperation with the Air Quality Partnership of Delaware Valley, the Southwest Pennsylvania Air Quality Partnership, the Lehigh Valley/Berks Air Quality Partnership and the Susquehanna Valley Air Quality Partnership.

Click Here to sign up to receive air quality forecasts via email from EPA’s AirNow webpage.

For more information about air quality or the local partnerships, visit DEP’s Air Quality Partnerships webpage or call 717-787-9495.

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