El Paso Blowing Dust April 9, 2008

Analyses for a major air pollution event

Images

Description
Strong gusty southwest winds caused blowing dust in parts of northern Mexico, southern New Mexico, and far West Texas on Wednesday, April 9th. Wind gusts as high as 61 miles per hour were reported at the Ascarate Park Continuous Ambient Monitoring Station (CAMS) 37 in El Paso and at the El Paso Airport. The high winds generated large dust plumes in northern Mexico that swept into El Paso in the afternoon.

The highest measured daily average PM10 concentration in El Paso County was 224 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) at Socorro CAMS 49 and rated as Level Orange, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Quality Index (AQI) scale. The other two continuous PM10 sites at Chamizal CAMS 41 and UTEP CAMS 12 also measured daily averages in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" range. The highest measured PM10 hourly average was 1,449 µg/m³ at Socorro CAMS 49 for the hour from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). McDonald Observatory CAMS 317 also measured "Moderate" PM2.5 levels from blowing dust.

The visibility measured at Chamizal CAMS 41 dropped as low as 3.8 miles at 2:25 p.m. MDT. The visibility measured at Guadalupe Mountains CAMS 5018 dropped as low as 1.7 miles at 8:05 p.m. CDT, indicating that heavy blowing dust reached the Guadalupe Mountains.

Document Actions

Print this