Cooler temperatures this summer have benefitted air quality around the Bay Area.
High pressure weather systems have not been prevalent along the coast, allowing offshore winds to keep temperatures moderate and breaking up any smog.
Smog forms when high pressure weather systems stir up hot, stagnant air for days on end. This, combined with car and factory exhaust, creates the brownish haze usually seen on hot days. The San Jose Mercury News reported that smog causes asthma attacks, watery eyes and can impair lung development in children.
The conditions have made for one of the cleanest years on record for the Bay Area. Not one Spare the Air advisory has been issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and no violations of the federal public health standards for smog have been recorded. There were eight violations issued for air quality in 2009, 12 in 2008 and one in 2007. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that only four years since 1991 have had fewer than five Spare the Air Days: 1997, 2004, 2005 and 2007.
CBS 5 reported that temperatures are almost five degrees below their 30-year-norm.
The air district is forecasting good air quality at least through Sunday. Jet stream patterns indicate conditions are not expected to change much in the coming months.
