We had a mixture of clouds, some transported dust, and a little isolated shower here and there today. As predicted, the upper level low is slowing moving through the region but not in the direction I want it to go. The models are showing is retrograding back west this weekend before it moves east. This will bring possible shower to the area on Saturday.
Today's AQI forecast showed an area of moderate air quality over Dona Ana County today due to ozone. There was some transported dust from the east impacting our area. It was hard to tell the source since cloud cover obscured the ground most of the day. I imagine that a significant amount was gypsum from White Sands although I can't prove it. This afternoon PM10 concentrations were in the range of 120 µg/m3 and PM2.5 about 25 µg/m3 near the NMSU campus.
On a side note we had a great El Paso/Las Cruces AMS chapter meeting tonight on campus. I was the speaker and I discussed my role as State Climatologist and my vision for bringing a flavor of atmospheric sciences to NMSU. We decided to hold quarterly meetings and for now meet at a conference room in Skeen.
I noticed from MSNBC that a section of I-25 in Albuquerque was closed today due to low visibility from dust. The link is: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/08/10615518-new-mexico-dust-storm-shuts-down-i-25-delays-flights.
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