The Front Range’s air quality benefitted from an unusually wet and cool

 The Front Range’s air quality benefitted from an unusually wet and cool start to summer, said Scott Landes, air quality meteorologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

“Ozone really thrives in hot and dry conditions, which we really didn’t have in the first half of the summer,” Landes said.

On top of the cooler start to summer, wildfires were kept to a minimum in the West, and weather patterns sent smoke from large wildfires in Canada toward the eastern United States, he said.

“In some respects, we got lucky this year,” Landes said. “With climate change particularly, summers have been hotter and that’s going to lead to higher ozone. We have long-term drought across the western U.S., and that’s going to lead to more wildfires. That smoke could enhance ozone concentrations. So we have a lot of stuff that works against us.”

Reducing the number of days when ground-level ozone blankets the Front Range with thick smog is critical because the region is in violation of federal air quality standards. The Environmental Protection Agency categorized the region as a severe non-attainment zone in September 2022, and that label will result in stricter regulations for businesses, including the oil and gas industry, and higher gasoline prices for drivers.