Severe weather is expected in the Appleton area today, but at least the air quality has improved.
On July 20, the risk of severe thunderstorms will increase according to Kevin Scharfenberg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Green Bay. He said storms can begin as early as 1 p.m., but the greatest risks are between 3 and 9 p.m.
“The risk of thunderstorms will really increase as the afternoon and evening goes on,” Scharfenberg said.
It’s possible that the Fox Valley will experience strong to damaging winds, large hail, tornadoes and heavy rain.
How will the storm impact the weather quality in the Appleton area?
According to airnow.gov, the current air quality in the Fox Valley is at 139, which is ranked as “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued a statewide air quality advisory through noon July 20.
“The smoke situation, air quality is improved overnight,” Scharfenberg said. “Still a little bit of smoke around, air quality still kind of in the moderate range. Some folks with particular sensitivity to respiratory issues might still notice the smoke and have some issues, but otherwise its improved quite a bit.”
Scharfenberg attributed the improvement in air quality to shifting of winds. We previously had winds come from the north and northwest, but today strong southwest winds have pushed some of the smoke out.
“The cold front coming through and showers and thunderstorms around should keep the air quality a little bit better today than its been the last couple of days,” he said. “We’re not totally done with the smoke … there will still be some around the next four, five days but certainly better than we’ve seen.”
Alexandria Bursiek Kloehn is a breaking news editor for the Green Bay Press-Gazette and the Appleton Post-Crescent. You can reach her at abursiekkloehn@usatodayco.com or 920-427-5562.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: How will incoming storms affect air quality in Appleton, Fox Valley?
Reporting by Alexandria Bursiek Kloehn, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alexandria Bursiek Kloehn, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
