[ADEQ Forecasts] ADEQ AIR QUALITY FORECAST FOR SATURDAY, JULY 12, 2008

[forecasts@lists.azdeq.gov]

http://www.azdeq.gov/ensemble.pdf

For transportation alternatives:
http://www.valleymetro.org

Health message for Friday, July 11:  Unusually Sensitive People should consider limiting prolonged exertion outdoors.
 
Health message for Saturday, July 12:  Unusually Sensitive People should consider limiting prolonged exertion outdoors.
 
Synopsis and Discussion
If you didn't get any rain last night, you must have been outside of Maricopa County.  At about 8:30pm Thursday night, a couple storms cells came together around loop 101 and I-17 and pushed west.  The powerful line of storms dumped buckets of rain across the Valley.  Glendale and Peoria received an inch of rain in just 15 minutes.  Prior to this complex of storms, the east Valley got hammered.  One storm gauge in Mesa recorded just over 3 inches of rain!  The inverted trough of low pressure over the region responsible for these storms remains over the area on Friday.  Much of Maricopa County is under cloud cover, but there is clearing to the southwest.  Split low-level and upper-level flows combined with surface heating and a juiced-up atmosphere will likely provide the region with more storms later this afternoon and evening.  These storms probably won't be as strong but could still drop heavy amounts of rain.  The air quality slate was wiped cleans with Ozone and Particulates plummeting into the "Good" range.  With the inverted trough disappearing in favor of high pressure this weekend, we will return to a more typical monsoon patter with hit-and-miss storms through next week.  Afternoon desert temperatures will be in the upper 90s to around 102°F through Sunday, warming to 110°F by the end of next week.  Increased sunshine and easterly winds will allow ozone to generate early over the forecast area on Sunday, struggling to escape to the east.  By early next week, those levels could return to the upper part of the "Moderate" range.  The rain has done a great job with Particulates, and we can the concentrations to remain in the "Good" range for a while.  Check back on Sunday for a look at your coming workweek's weather and resulting air quality.  Have a great weekend!  -J.Paul

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