Record Heat, Smoke Trigger Air Quality Alerts For New Orleans, Baton Rouge

"What do you get when you combine record-breaking heat, wildfire smoke and sunlight? Ground-level ozone in amounts high enough to cause health problems in both Baton Rouge and New Orleans on Friday and Saturday, according to the federal/state Air Quality Index.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality declared action days for both cities on Friday and Saturday for ozone levels that are high enough to be unhealthy for sensitive groups.

But at 4 p.m. Friday, the index level actually hit 154 in Baton Rouge, high enough to be considered unhealthy for all. The index level was 108 in New Orleans at 4 p.m., still in the unhealthy for sensitive groups range."

Mark Schleifstein reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune August 18, 2023.