Stagnant air to create more air quality problems

Air quality will continue to be a problem over the next few weeks as the overall weather pattern stays dry and stagnant. Luckily, with a couple of rounds of rain possible this week, air quality most likely won't be a concern again until the weekend, at the earliest. A drier pattern looks to return as next week rolls around. But, as the weather dries out over the weekend, that's where air quality alerts could be issued again, just like last Saturday.

If you suffer from asthma or you're typically impacted when Air Quality Alerts are issued, you may be wheezing or reaching for the inhaler a little more than usual for the rest of the month. Air quality hasn't been a massive problem in South Bend and Elkhart, but we've noticed that the numbers of Air Quality Alert days has gone up slowly over the last couple of years. 

We've been dealing with the drier-than-normal conditions for the last two weeks now. In fact since July 22nd, we have had the driest two week stretch in the last 30 years, only picking up 0.13" of rain over this span. And the next month looks to be almost just as dry. That's why we're expecting, not only abnormally dry conditions to continue and spread throughout Michiana, but also moderate drought to form in southern michiana. Continue to help water the lawns and gardens this week.