High Ozone in Your Metro Area

This table summarizes high one-hour and eight-hour ozone averages in the metropolitan areas where the Virginia DEQ monitors ozone.

• What Do the Numbers Mean?

Please Note: Data in this table is based on the number of monitors operating in an area, as well as on the severity of ozone.
This data should not be used to perform comparisons between cities or across years without factoring in the number of monitors.

The peak one-hour and eight-hour averages are color-highlighted based on the EPA-defined Air Quality Index colors. (See Interpreting the AQI.)

What do the Numbers Mean?

The information in the table is composed of ozone measurements from monitoring sites across Virginia. There are two averaging periods that are of interest for ozone: a one-hour average and an eight-hour average. There are national air quality standards that have been established by the EPA for both of these averaging periods.

For the one-hour ozone average, a threshold of 125 ppb has been used to determine high value days. For the eight-hour ozone average, a threshold of 76 ppb has been used. Only averages that are equal to or higher than one of these thresholds appear in this table. The High Days column is a count of the number of days each metropolitan area experienced high ozone measurements (either one-hour or eight-hour) for the selected year. Out of all the averages at or above the thresholds, the peak or highest one-hour and eight-hour averages and the date they occurred are shown.

Ozone formation tends to be highest from March through October. Before May, there will be few if any metropolitan areas with high ozone readings. Some metropolitan areas never experience high ozone. In either of these cases, the table will show "No averages at or above 125", or "No averages at or above 76".

Interpreting the AQI

Each NAAQS pollutant has a separate AQI scale, with an AQI rating of 100 corresponding to the concentration of the Federal Standard for that pollutant. Additional information about the AQI and how it can be used is available from the EPA.

Place your mouse pointer over the scale displayed above to view information about the Air Quality Index, and each of the rating levels.

The actual index calculation is different for each parameter measured and is specified by the EPA. The following table shows the various breakpoints used in calculating the AQI.

• The AQI for ozone is based on either the peak eight-hour running average since midnight OR the peak one-hour measurement since midnight. When calculating air quality for the current day, the Virginia DEQ uses a surrogate 8-hour average based on the current hourly average.

PLEASE NOTE: This data has not been verified by the Virginia DEQ and may change. This is the most current data, but it is not official until it has been certified by our technical staff. Data is collected from Virginia DEQ ambient monitoring sites and may include data collected by other outside agencies. This data is updated hourly. All times shown are in local standard time unless otherwise indicated.