Dust plume causes air quality issues for Birmingham

Posted: Updated:

BIRMINGHAM - AL -

A dust storm in the Central Plains Thursday, has caused some problems for Alabama today.

A plume of dust has made its way into the Birmingham area. According to the Jefferson County Department of Health, coarse particulate matter (PM₁₀) concentrations have dramatically increased over the last few hours and will continue to do so through the evening.

This will cause some short-term issues with air quality. The problems are not too serious; however, while the concentrations have not reached "Air Quality Alert" levels, JCDH advises those that are sensitive to air pollution and dust (i.e., children, the elderly, and people with heart or lung diseases) to remain indoors if they have problems breathing.

Below is two pictures of the skyline in Huntsville from the ABC 33/40 Weather Blog. The first picture shows the skyline on a normal day. The second picture is what it looked like on Friday with the dust plume in the area.

View of Huntsville skyline on a normal day (top), view of same skyline with dust plume (bottom)

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Dust plume causes air quality issues for Birmingham - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

Dust plume causes air quality issues for Birmingham

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