Gothamist is hoping for an inch of rain today. It's not going to happen, but we're hoping anyway. Why? An inch of rain would make this the wettest April ever, topping the 14.01 inches that dumped on Central Park in 1983. The rain from the nor'easter a couple of weeks ago alone was enough to make the current month the fifth wettest on record. Add to that Friday's two inches and we were within striking distance of the April milestone.
The threat of rain has long since passed today, so we'll have to settle for a breezy –gusts may reach 40 miles an hour– warm, and mostly sunny day. Today's high may reach 80 degrees before the wind sweeps in cooler air. It won't be nearly as warm tomorrow as clouds return. Rain will be likely tomorrow night into the early part of Wednesday. Once the rain moves out the rest of the week is looking sunny and seasonable.
Do you know what this week is? It's Air Quality Awareness Week! The two types of air pollution that affect New York the most are ozone and particulates. Ozone is great in the stratosphere, where it blocks ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth's surface, but it's toxic when it gets into our bloodstream. As they say, ozone is "Good up high, bad nearby". Particulates are all sorts of crap Gothamist would rather not have in our lungs, including pollen, dust, mold spores, nitric oxides, sulfur dioxides, and metals. Ozone formation near the ground tends to be greatest during afternoons in warm weather while particulates can occur year round. Because of the cold front passage today's air quality is good so feel free to breathe deeply.
Air Quality meter from the Maspeth Library in Queens from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
