It’s looking like we’re going to have a few smokey days, so I wanted to pass on some recommendations:
- To decide whether to hold an outdoor event: NYS DEC issues official air quality forecasts across the state. This site has tabs for today and tomorrow (“tomorrow” doesn’t get posted until ~afternoons due to difficulties with forecasting smoke). Note that these are 24-hour averages so specific times might have better/worse air quality than forecast
- To decide whether to run right now: US EPA collects official real-time data + low-cost sensors at https://fire.airnow.gov/. You can look anywhere in the US. I really like this map. IMPORTANT NOTE: Without naming names, other real-time maps are known to report inaccurate values (see next point about sensor quality) so the only one I trust is the EPA, which has done extensive testing of different sensor types to ensure accuracy.
- With smoke, the map should be good enough for local decision-making because the air quality typically is similar across town. If you want hyper-local data, there are many commercial sensors available now in the $100-$300 range. I don’t want to do too much advertising specific companies, but there are two that you can have your sensor add directly to the EPA map and thereby provide a public service–PurpleAir and Clarity. I’ll also mention local company Air Quality Egg. IMPORTANT NOTE: All commercial sensors read extremely high in smoke waves, so it is important to use corrected values rather than raw values. This is another benefit of tying into the EPA map because EPA will automatically correct them on the public map.
- I personally feel crummy at orange AQI and sometimes even in yellow, but everyone has different thresholds and sensitivities. On days like these, I move my workouts indoors (eg treadmill in an air-conditioned space) or try to go outdoors in what seems like like the best air quality on the day
- Remember that everyone is different and has different susceptibilities, and if you are feeling ok maybe someone else needs help (and vice versa–if you aren’t feeling ok, ask for help). Check in on friends and neighbors, especially because we are getting heat with smoke this week.
- Some of the things you might experience or might observe in folks around you include sore throat, itchy eyes, runny nose, headache, irritability, and more severe cases including respiratory distress like asthma attacks–these are all signs the smoke is impacting health and would be good indicators to seek cleaner air