Wednesday will be an Ozone Action Day for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said in its air quality forecast Tuesday afternoon.
The agency's forecasters expect light winds, warm temperatures, plenty of afternoon sun and pollution already lingering in the air to push ground-level ozone just into the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" category from the center to the west side of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Readings are expected to peak during the afternoon and into the early evening, the forecast says.
Austin is under an Ozone Action Day on Wednesday as well.
Fine particle pollution could also rise into the low "Moderate" range in some areas, according to the forecast the agency posted at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday.
TCEQ's four-day outlook lists ozone as the main pollutant for Dallas-Fort Worth on Thursday and Friday too, but as of Tuesday afternoon only Wednesday carried the Ozone Action Day flag. The agency updates the forecast every workday and says each person should judge how active to be based on conditions where they are.
Who is at risk
People with asthma or other respiratory conditions face the greatest danger from breathing ozone and may have asthma attacks more often, according to Air North Texas, the regional air quality campaign of the North Central Texas Council of Governments. The campaign says healthy people can also feel effects, including:
- Coughing and throat irritation
- A tight chest
- Pain, burning or discomfort when breathing deeply
- Shortness of breath
