TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — An Air Quality Actions Day has been issued by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management for Saturday, June 17 across several areas in the state.
With the weather creating a dry and sunny pattern and with the forecasted winds, the ozone will have the conditions to build to an unhealthy level for sensitive groups.
The following regions will be impacted by the air quality:
- West Central Indiana | Terre Haute, Lafayette, Fowler, Monticello, Delphi, Crawfordsville, Greencastle, Spencer, Sullivan, Newport, Covington
- Central/East Central Indiana | Indianapolis, Bloomington, Kokomo, Muncie, Richmond, Brookville, Greensburg, Columbus, Martinsville, Lebanon, Frankfort
- Southeast Indiana | Jeffersonville, New Albany, Corydon, Salem, Brownstown, Versailles, Madison
- Southwest Indiana |Evansville, Vincennes, Huntingburg, Bloomfield, Bedford, Paoli, Tell City, Rockport, Mount Vernon, Princeton
More details on impacted locations or to sign up for Air Quality Alerts can be found on Indiana’s Smog Watch Forecasting webpage.
The IDEM also urges people to help reduce damage to the ozone by making changes to some daily habits such as:
- Drive less: carpool, use public transportation, walk, bike, or work from home when possible
- Combine errands into one trip
- Avoid refueling your vehicle or using gasoline-powered lawn equipment until after 7 p.m.
- Keep your engine tuned, and don’t let your engine idle (e.g., at a bank or restaurant drive-thru)
- Conserve energy by turning off lights and setting the thermostat to 75 degrees or above
- Some municipalities have additional open burning restrictions on AQADs. For more information, see idem.IN.gov/openburning/laws-and-rules.
The Air Quality Action Day will be in effect from midnight to 11:59 p.m. Anyone who is sensitive to air quality could be impacted when the ozone level is high. This includes children, elderly people, and anyone with a lung or heart condition.
Air Quality Action Days typically happen when weather conditions like light winds, hot and dry air, stagnant conditions, and lower atmospheric inversions trap pollutants close to the ground.
