Oak Ridge Today

Air quality alert in effect until midnight Saturday

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Haze from wildfires in western states and Canada obscures the Cumberland Mountains north of Oak Ridge in this view from Pine Ridge last week, on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

An air quality alert is in effect until midnight as smoke from wildfires in western states and Canada continues to blow through the region. The smoke also affected air quality in the region last week.

On Friday, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation issued a code orange air quality alert for fine particulate matter, including in the Knoxville metropolitan area. The air quality alert includes Anderson County. It went into effect at midnight Friday and continues until midnight Saturday.

The orange alert means the air is unhealthy for people in sensitive groups, according to AirNow.gov. This includes people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, and teenagers. They should choose less strenuous activities, like walking instead of running, so they don’t breathe as hard. They should also shorten the amount of time they are active outdoors, and postpone outdoor activities if possible to when the air quality is better. Everyone else can enjoy outdoor activities, AirNow.gov said.

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Smoke from wildfires in West, Canada causes haze in Oak Ridge

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Haze obscures the mountains north of Oak Ridge in this view from Pine Ridge on Wednesday evening, July 21, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Smoke from enormous wildfires in the western United States and Canada is causing haze in Oak Ridge and across the eastern United States, and affecting air quality in many regions.

This map shows the locations of fires in the northwest United States and Canada, the smoke plume spreading across North America, and air quality indices. (Map by AirNow.gov via National Weather Service in Morristown)

On Thursday, CBS News reported that there are wildfires burning in 13 states, and 83 large fires have burned close to 1.3 million acres. The largest fire, the Bootleg Fire in Oregon, was burning more than 476 square miles, an area about the size of Los Angeles and three times the size of Detroit.

Smoke from the wildfires is blowing into Canada and then south around the Great Lakes and east to the East Coast, according to a map posted by AirNow.gov and shared by the National Weather Service in Morristown.

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Oak Ridge Schools’ Turkey Trot rescheduled to Dec. 1 due to unhealthy air quality

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The Oak Ridge Schools’ Turkey Trot has been rescheduled to Thursday, December 1, due to unhealthy air quality in the area, officials said.

Air quality forecast for Wednesday: Unhealthy

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air-quality-forecast-nov-16-2016

The air quality forecast on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, is unhealthy for East Tennessee, including the Knoxville area, as forest fires continue to burn in the Southeast, including in East Tennessee. Yellow is moderate, orange is unhealthy for sensitive groups, and red is unhealthy. (Image courtesy AirNow.gov)

 

The air quality forecast on Wednesday is unhealthy for East Tennessee, including the Knoxville area, as forest fires continue to burn in the Southeast, including in East Tennessee.

The air quality conditions in the Knoxville area at about noon Wednesday were moderate, according to AirNow.gov.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said the unhealthy air quality conditions will continue across must of the area into today. People with lung disease such as asthma and children and older adults should avoid prolonged outdoor exposure to the smoke, the Weather Service said.

“Everyone should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,” the NWS said. [Read more…]

Air quality forecast for Tuesday: Unhealthy for sensitive groups

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The air quality forecast for Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. Yellow areas are moderate, orange areas are unhealthy for sensitive groups, and red is unhealthy. (Image courtesy AirNow.gov)

 

The air quality forecast for the Knoxville area on Tuesday is again unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The air quality in the Knoxville area at about 8 a.m. Tuesday was unhealthy due to particle pollution, according to AirNow.gov. That means people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.

Unhealthy for sensitive groups means the general public is not likely to be affected, but people with lung disease, older adults, and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, while people with heart and lung disease, older adults, and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air.

The poor air quality in the the Knoxville and Chattanooga metropolitan areas, as well as in the Great Smoky Mountains, is due to smoke from wildfires.

“Everyone should limit prolonged outdoor exertion,” the National Weather Service in Morristown said Tuesday. [Read more…]

Smoky haze continues, unhealthy air conditions forecast for today

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Poor air quality will exist today along the Great Smoky Mountains and the Knoxville and Chattanooga metropolitan areas due to smoke from wildfires. Everyone should pay attention to their body and limit prolonged outdoor activities. (Image courtesy National Weather Service in Morristown)

 

A smoky haze continues in East Tennessee, and an air quality alert has been issued for much of the Tennessee Valley, including the Knoxville area, because of smoke from wildfires, officials said Monday.

People with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children were advised to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion, according to the forecast on AirNow.gov.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said unhealthy air quality conditions will continue across much of the area today.

“Plumes of smoke from wildfires will continue to linger in the atmosphere across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachian Mountains,” the National Weather Service said. “The smoke plumes will reduce visibilities and produce poor air quality conditions.” [Read more…]

ORAU, University of Oklahoma win $8.4 million NOAA award for weather, climate change research

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ORAU Satellite Photo

Photo via ORAU on Twitter

 

The University of Oklahoma and Oak Ridge Associated Universities were recently awarded $8.4 million over three years from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct weather and climate change monitoring research. The funding provides OU with the opportunity to expand its Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies’ research capabilities through a partnership with NOAA’s ORAU-managed Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, or ATDD, program, a press release said.

“CIMMS is one of OU’s treasures as it has played a significant role in advancing our understanding of the atmosphere as well as provided valuable technologies and tools for operational forecasters,” said Kelvin Droegemeier, OU vice president for research. “This new award will build upon these historical strengths to address some of today’s most compelling challenges in weather and climate.”

The award will help further OU’s key research in areas such as boundary layer characterization, which is the atmospheric layer closest to Earth’s surface, and climate observations and analyses. This research will directly support NOAA’s goal to improve prediction of severe weather near the earth’s surface and will provide funding for a research position at the ATDD location in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

New electric bucket trucks offer cleaner, quieter operation

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Oak Ridge Electric Department Hybrid Bucket Truck Crew

Linemen Michael Goodpaster, left, and Steve Wilson prepare to demonstrate the Oak Ridge Electric Department’s new hybrid bucket truck, which uses electricity rather than diesel to operate its bucket boom.

 

The Oak Ridge Electric Department has a new hybrid bucket truck that uses quiet electricity rather than noisy diesel to power its bucket boom, making it easier for workers to communicate and reducing emissions and neighborhood noise.

Workers said the electric-powered boom is as fast as traditional diesel-powered booms, and the improved worker communications with the new, quieter booms helps them stay safe.

“It’s been a great thing for us,” Oak Ridge Electric Department Director Jack Suggs said. “The linemen really like it.”

Officials said the city’s Electric Department is one of several local power companies partnering with the Tennessee Valley Authority to bring energy-efficient, hybrid electric-powered bucket trucks to the Tennessee Valley. The new trucks are funded in part by a grant from TVA, the Electric Power Research Institute, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Oak Ridge received one plug-in hybrid bucket truck in October and is awaiting delivery of a plug-in hybrid pickup truck. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge receives $237,000 air quality grant for traffic signal timing

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Stoplight

Oak Ridge has received a $237,500 air quality grant that will be used to coordinate the operations of traffic signals at 26 intersections on three main roads: Illinois Avenue, Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Lafayette Drive.

The grant will improve the management of current and future traffic flow and reduce congestion and vehicle idling, according to a project summary posted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

It was one of 31 grants totaling more than $27 million announced in 11 communities across Tennessee on Friday. The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, or CMAQ, grants were announced by TDOT Commissioner John Schroer.

The grants are meant to reduce congestion and improve air quality. Funded projects include expansions of the TDOT HELP truck program statewide, improvements in traffic signal timing, cleaner transit buses and alternative fuel vehicles purchases, and protected bicycle lanes in Chattanooga. The grants also include a multimodal river port in Clarksville, and expanded transit service in several areas. Another project will include the addition of a bicycle-pedestrian trail on the Harahan Bridge in downtown Memphis. [Read more…]