![]() Chicago forecast air quality data is presented at the top of this page beneath the city overview. While year-over-year trends and averages provide insights into air quality levels in Chicago, real-time and forecast data should be monitored for actionable insights to address ever-changing pollution levels. ![]() 1 The State of the Air report from the American Lung Association gave Chicago’s Cook County an ‘F’ rating for ozone and found the city to rank 16th for high ozone out of 229 included metropolitan areas. ![]() In 2019, Chicago was deemed ‘nonattainment’ by the US EPA for exceeding 3.4 calendar days of unhealthy air pollution by more than 5 times with an average of 19.2 unhealthy ozone days per year. Since temperatures over 84☏ are typically required for ozone to form, it’s much more prevalent in the summer than winter. Ozone is a harmful gas pollutant and key component of smog, created when precursor pollutants, nitrogen oxides (NO x), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react in warmer temperatures and sunlight. In addition to PM2.5 pollution, Chicago has also had difficulty complying with federal ozone standards. This ranking places Chicago air quality in a slightly worse position than Los Angeles air quality (12.7 μg/m 3), a city well known for its pollution challenges. Chicago had not experienced such high annual exposure levels since 2012.Ĭhicago PM2.5 pollution ranks worst in the state of Illinois for particle pollution and 79th nationally out of 1517 metropolitan areas in the United States. In 2019, Chicago averaged an annual PM2.5 level of 12.8 μg/m 3, thereby breaching both the WHO target and the US EPA target. The World Health Organization (WHO), meanwhile, employs a more stringent standard, recommending that exposure remain below 10 μg/m 3 annually. The US EPA recommends that annual PM2.5 exposure not exceed 12 μg/m 3. PM2.5 pollution is fine particle pollution with a range of chemical compositions that measures 2.5 microns in diameter or less. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone represent two of the most common ‘main pollutants’ responsible for a city’s AQI due to the weight the formula ascribes to them for their potential harm and prevalence at high levels. The pollutant with the highest individual AQI becomes the ‘main pollutant’ and dictates the overall air quality index. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines “moderate” air quality as air potentially unhealthy to sensitive groups including children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing cardiovascular or respiratory health conditions.ĪQI ratings are calculated by weighting 6 key criteria pollutants for their risk to health. Basically, waters in the tropical pacific are a little bit cooler than normal and usually that means we’re in store for a little bit more of a wetter winter.In 2019, Chicago averaged an air quality index (AQI) of 52 (“moderate”). “We are in what we call a La Niña pattern. Last year’s winter was mostly snow-free, but a couple of weeks in February made up most of the season’s snowfall, according to statistics from the weather service.Ī climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean may lead to more precipitation throughout the winter, according to the meteorologist. ![]() “It’s kind of hard to say because weather obviously changes quite rapidly now so we get bigger systems moving into the later part of the winter season and that can cause most of our snow to fall,” a meteorologist at the weather service said. Meteorologists measure winter snowfall from Dec. The weather service couldn’t confirm whether the late snowfall was any indication of a less snowy winter season but said larger storm systems later in the season cause most of the snowfall. There was a 50 percent chance of snow showers late New Year’s Eve, and a 70 percent chance for snow on New Year’s Day. A tenth to a half inch was expected to fall. The next chance for measurable snow was late Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday evening, lingering into early Thursday morning across the metro area. Midway Airport reported 1.6 inches of snow, and the lakefront had under 0.5 inches by 7:45 p.m., according to the weather service. Wet snow accumulations upwards of 3 inches were reported north of Interstate 80 toward Aurora and 2 inches were reported in Rockford by 5:45 p.m. ![]()
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