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Houston outpaces Los Angeles to retake
'smoggiest city' title
September 7, 2000
Web posted at: 9:58 AM EDT (1358 GMT)
Houston
(AP) -- A series of sweltering days and soaring ozone
levels pushed Houston ahead of Los Angeles for the title
of the nation's smoggiest city, just as southern California's
smog season is likely to wind down.
Houston
recorded its ninth consecutive day with an ozone reading
above the national health standard Wednesday, the Houston
Chronicle reported Thursday, giving Houston 37 high-ozone
days for the year, compared with 34 for Los Angeles.
A
potent high pressure ridge over Texas is to blame.
"High
pressure dictates stagnant air. You have no clouds and
no wind," said Steve Allen, a National Weather
Service meteorologist. "The pollutants that are
there are going to stay there. You cook them every day
with the sun, and you get a lot of ozone."
Houston
hit 107 degrees on August 31 and September 1, and on
Monday, the city hit a record-high 109.
Thunderstorms
were expected to push inland from the Gulf of Mexico
late Thursday and Friday, which could break the heat
and the string of ozone days, perhaps handing the lead
back to Los Angeles, said Chuck Roeseler, another weather
service meteorologist.
In
Southern California, the final week of August and first
few weeks of September are historically the smoggiest
of the year. In Houston, smog season lasts much longer,
sometimes beginning in February and persisting as late
as November.
Last
year, for the first time, Houston had more smoggy days
and higher peak readings than Los Angeles: 52 days of
unhealthful ozone for Houston, compared with 41 in Los
Angeles.
Los
Angeles regained the dubious title on August 24, but
days of blistering temperatures and windless, cloudless
days nudged Houston ahead again.
Much
of Los Angeles' ozone is formed when exhaust from cars
and smokestacks released during the day mixes with other
chemicals and sunshine. In Houston, much of the pollution
comes from oil refineries, petrochemical plants and
cargo ships.
