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SALT LAKE CITY — Forecasters say the lack of snow on the ground along the Wasatch Front may be helping prevent poor air quality this winter.
KSL Chief Meteorologist Kevin Eubank says temperatures are warmer when there's no snow on the valley floor, and more importantly, there's less evaporation.
"That moisture isn't entering the atmosphere, isn't becoming a magnet for the other pollutants to glob onto, and so you really end up not seeing as many bad air quality days," Eubank said.
In a temperature inversion, warmer air above traps colder air in the valley, and along with it, any pollutants that might normally be able to escape. Eubank said we could still see more inversions this winter, but if we do, they won't be as bad or last as long as they would have in January.
"The sun angle is higher, our days are a little longer," Eubank said, "and we start to kind of curve out of the coldest time of the year and we start to get a little warmer temperatures."
Eubank said the type of storms that have come through every couple of weeks pave prevented the inversions from setting up and trapping that hazy air over the valley.
Contributing: Andy Farnsworth
