Ozone Forecasts Can Help Reduce Health Problems

 As of Oct. 2, 2007, NOAA and EPA are making daily local forecasts of ground level ozone for the entire contiguous U.S. The latest upgrade adds forecast information for 11 Western states, and improves forecasting for 6 others.

• NOAA press release.
• Forecast site.

The forecasts provide daily information for local health and government officials, as well as individual residents, that can help them plan for and engage in activities that reduce ozone generation and personal exposure to the harmful pollutant.

The overall map provides a good indication of general patterns for each of the 12 upcoming hours, and you can zoom in for high resolution images of smaller areas. An added bonus is that the forecasts provide ozone information for areas that have little or no data for some or all of the year on EPA sites such as AIRNow, AirData, and Annual Summary Table Query.