Source: NC CLIMATE OFFICE, 10/25/18

Today, our look at the state of air quality in North Carolina continues with the second guest post by the meteorologists from the NC Division of Air Quality.

Previously, we discussed the significant improvements in North Carolina's air quality over the past ten years and how this has actually made air quality forecasting more challenging. So what goes into a forecast anyway, and how are we accounting for the changing nature of high ozone events?

In this post, we'll share an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the considerations that go into our daily air quality forecasts, along with the oh-so-many ways that seemingly insignificant factors can result in dramatically different air quality even across a small area.

In our last blog series from 2014, we touched on the main large-scale atmospheric ingredients we look for when making our forecasts, including a stagnant air mass, sunny skies, hot or dry air, and light winds.

However, a number of smaller-scale features -- both meteorological and those related to human activity -- can result in much higher or lower ozone concentrations than the overall weather pattern might otherwise dictate.

For more of this story, click here.