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AIR Tool Offers Air Quality and Weather Data, in Detail

air quality

A photo of the sun in a hazy, cloudy sky over the Outer Banks on June 1

Jul 7, 2025

June Started Wet, Ended Hot with Active Air Quality

June was warm overall thanks to a late-month heat wave and mostly wet due to early-month showers and storms. It also saw several air quality hazards, as revealed by our recent AIR tool updates. Building to a Summer Sizzle Boosted by a late-month heat wave, last month was our state’s warmest June since 2018. The…
A photo of hazy skies over Whiteside Mountain on August 27

Sep 4, 2024

Debby’s Deluge, Late-August Heat Ends a Summer of Extremes

August was wet for most of North Carolina thanks to Debby’s rainfall, while temperatures peaked in the final week of the month. That ended a roller coaster summer with extremes of all sorts. Doused by Debby, but Dry in the West Our August precipitation was dominated by Tropical Storm Debby’s contribution, which single-handedly made for…
A photo of the sun rising over trees in Cabarrus County

Apr 4, 2024

Rain Returns and Pollen Proliferates in a Warm March

It was a record wet March in parts of North Carolina, while the entire state experienced warm temperatures and the corresponding arrival of pollen season last month. Frequent Rains Roll Through Heavy rain especially at the coast fueled a wet March for the state. NCEI reports a preliminary statewide average precipitation of 5.45 inches, which…
A photo of sunrise over the Pasquotank River on June 16

Jul 10, 2023

Smoke and Storms Fill the Skies in June

Cool and at times smoky conditions continued in June, while a week of showers and storms reversed the dry pattern we started the month with. We also look at the numbers after the first half of 2023, and preview the main storylines for the end of the year. Spared from Summer Heat, but Not Smoke…
A photo of a smoky haze over Winston-Salem on June 6

Jun 13, 2023

Rapid Reaction: Smoky Skies Create Unhealthy Air Quality

Our summer started not with sun but smoke last week, which yielded the most widespread hazardous air quality episode seen in many years across the eastern United States. Together with our partners at the North Carolina Division of Air Quality (NC DAQ), who are responsible for operating a network of air quality monitoring sites and issuing air…
A photo of the sun behind the clouds in Surry County

Nov 10, 2022

Heat and Air Quality in 2022: Temperatures, Ozone Peaked in June

The foliage reaching its final form and the first freeze of the season – not to mention the calendar showing it’s now November – are all sure signs that the summer is finished. This summer in North Carolina got off to a hot start but wrapped up right on time, at least by astronomical accounting.…
A photo of frost on leaves from Waynesville on the morning of April 28

May 2, 2022

April Had Transient Temperatures, Plentiful Pollen… but No Tornadoes

Temperatures last month were quite variable from day to day, while many areas missed out on rainfall and no tornadoes occurred in NC all month. One abundant feature in April, though, was the pollen. Warm Days and Cool Nights Our mid-spring month at times felt like three different seasons, including the warmth of early summer…
A screenshot of the Air Quality Portal dashboard containing air quality and weather forecasts

Mar 24, 2022

Air Quality Updates: What to Watch for in 2022

That feeling of spring in the air will soon be joined by powdery puffs of pollen, some sniffs of smoke, and potentially even occasional unhealthy air pollution as the weather continues to warm up. March marks not only the start of meteorological spring, but also the beginning of ozone season, which runs from March 1…
A screenshot of the AIR tool showing hourly PM2.5 concentrations, winds, and a satellite-derived smoke analysis at 3 pm on July 21, 2021

Aug 16, 2021

AIR Tool Offers Air Quality and Weather Data, in Detail

The State Climate Office and the North Carolina Division of Air Quality (NCDAQ) have partnered to build a new monitoring tool for those times when there’s something in the air, whether that’s a simmering summer afternoon, a gray and hazy evening, or even the hours after a holiday celebration. (Don’t worry, we’ll explain that one!)…