HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has forecasted a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for ozone on Friday, June 21 for the Philadelphia and central Pennsylvania areas.
Affected counties include Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Montgomery, Philadelphia and York Counties.
Mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the middle 90s should create conditions for robust ozone development and formation into the Code Orange range throughout the afternoon.
Residents and businesses within the Air Quality Action Day area(s) are strongly encouraged to voluntarily help reduce air pollution by:
- Conserving electricity by setting air conditioning to a higher temperature;
- Combining errands to reduce vehicle trips;
- Limiting engine idling; and
- Refueling cars and trucks after dusk.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI) provides standardized color codes for forecasting and reporting daily air quality. Green signifies good air quality; yellow means moderate air quality; orange represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people; and red warns of unhealthy pollution levels for all.
An Air Quality Action Day is issued when the AQI is forecasted to be code orange or higher. On air quality action days, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should limit outdoor activities.