Regional secondary PM Possible
Daily PM2.5 peaked at 45.9 µg/m³ near Winston across 1 covered metro home to 705,187 people.
Counting the extra PM2.5 above each metro's typical day, this event handed the average affected resident ≈ 1.6 cigarettes. Across everyone living in the affected metros, that is the collective equivalent of ≈ 1.1 million cigarettes. An awareness illustration of outdoor exposure at 22 µg/m³ per cigarette (Berkeley Earth), counting only the event's ranked days; not a medical dose.
Why we think this happened
Winston-Salem, NC's 3-monitor PM2.5 episode reached 44 µg/m³, 2.023 times the adjacent-window level, during 58% light-wind hours, 15 haze hours, a measured 2.8°C low-level inversion. Exact-date regional speciation sites measured 62.3% to 81.6% of reconstructed mass as ammonium sulfate plus ammonium nitrate. Together these measurements support regional secondary PM at possible confidence; the regional sites did not directly sample the city and no particular source region is assigned.
Possible This is a transparent hypothesis supported by limited evidence or an explicit inference, not a definitive attribution.
U.S. EPA AirData hypothesis
EPA records show median daily PM2.5 of 44 micrograms per cubic meter across 3 monitors, 2.023 times the adjacent-window level. Co-pollutants at least 10% above the adjacent-window comparison were pm10 (1.802x), nitrogen dioxide (1.116x). Other measured comparisons were carbon monoxide (1.075x), sulfur dioxide (0.917x).
National Weather Service surface observations via Iowa Environmental Mesonet · Aug 28, 2003 hypothesis
WINSTON-SALEM/SMITH_(ASOS) recorded calm conditions during 29% of event hours and wind at or below three knots during 58%. Observations included 15 haze hours, 7 mist hours, minimum visibility 1.5 miles.
U.S. EPA AirData Chemical Speciation · Aug 28, 2003 hypothesis
On the exact event date, 3 EPA speciation sites within 250 km measured a majority of reconstructed PM2.5 mass as ammonium sulfate plus ammonium nitrate: Linville Falls (154.4 km; 75.9%; reconstructed mass 21.4 µg/m³); Natural Bridge Ranger Station (180 km; 62.3%; reconstructed mass 16.8 µg/m³); Frying Pan Mountain (245.6 km; 81.6%; reconstructed mass 34.8 µg/m³).
Inference, not direct attribution
nearby_exact_date_secondary_inorganic_regional_context.v1: This inference is recorded in the catalog methodology.
Evidence path
A cause is more convincing when the record connects three things: something happened, the air mass moved toward the region, and local instruments responded. Here is how much of that chain is documented for this event.
Source or mechanism
nearby_exact_date_secondary_inorganic_regional_context.v1. This inference is recorded in the catalog methodology.
Air-mass movement
The retained record does not yet show how air traveled from the proposed source to these metros. A trajectory replay or dated plume analysis belongs here.
Local response
EPA monitors recorded the event across 1 metro. The peak daily concentration is roughly 2.1 cigarette-equivalents at the outdoor daily rate.
Inspect the pollutant and weather signals ↓Event autopsy
Before, during, and after the episode: nearby pollutant monitors and surface-weather stations show what changed. This context tests the “Regional secondary PM” explanation; it does not assign the cause by itself.
Winston-Salem, NC
Monitor comparison window 2003-08-25 to 2003-08-31 · PM2.5 target: Hattie Avenue
49% above nearby days
7 calm hours observed
Haze reported during 15 hours
49% higher than surrounding days
51% higher than surrounding days
About the same as surrounding days
9% lower than surrounding days
About the same as surrounding days
26% higher than surrounding days
7 kt maximum · 7 of 24 observed hours calm
13 observed hours at or below 3 miles
75°F to 90°F
94% maximum
Source: U.S. EPA AirData daily observations and, where available, nearby ASOS/AWOS surface observations. Values are descriptive medians over the retained monitor set; missing measurements remain missing. Transport and source evidence remain separate layers because this instrument pattern does not assign a cause by itself.
Episode peak
-- cigarettes
The smoke map's scale, replayed over this event: the surface interpolates between covered metros' daily records, framed to the affected region. Hover for a reading, click a metro to pin it to the card. Days a monitor did not report draw nothing.
Views from the selected metro
Select a metro on the map to see nearby cameras. Where an operator archive reaches the event, drag the divider to compare two moments, adjust either date and time, or play the available event-day frames. Camera imagery is visual context, not an air-quality measurement or proof of smoke.
No useful public camera views are currently available within 80 km of this metro.
| Metro | Peak PM2.5 | Cigarettes, whole event | Peak day | All-time standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winston-Salem, NC | 45.9 µg/m³ | 2.1 | Aug 28, 2003 | #11 of its top days |
"Cigarettes, whole event" totals a metro's ranked event days at 22 µg/m³ per cigarette: what a person outdoors there breathed across the event, as the illustration. "All-time standing" is where this episode's days sit in each metro's ranked record (worst-area measure, since 1999). Full local context is on each metro's Air Records page.
Public evidence library
Each card states what a source supports—and what it does not. Official records, research, reporting, community observations, and transparent inferences remain visibly different kinds of evidence.
National Weather Service surface observations via Iowa Environmental Mesonet
WINSTON-SALEM/SMITH_(ASOS) recorded calm conditions during 29% of event hours and wind at or below three knots during 58%. Observations included 15 haze hours, 7 mist hours, minimum visibility 1.5 miles.
This source supports a possible mechanism or occurrence; it does not establish the cause by itself.
A single surface station documents weak ventilation and obscuration but not the full vertical profile or particle source mix.
U.S. EPA AirData Chemical Speciation
On the exact event date, 3 EPA speciation sites within 250 km measured a majority of reconstructed PM2.5 mass as ammonium sulfate plus ammonium nitrate: Linville Falls (154.4 km; 75.9%; reconstructed mass 21.4 µg/m³); Natural Bridge Ranger Station (180 km; 62.3%; reconstructed mass 16.8 µg/m³); Frying Pan Mountain (245.6 km; 81.6%; reconstructed mass 34.8 µg/m³).
This source supports a possible mechanism or occurrence; it does not establish the cause by itself.
The usable composition sites were 154.4 km and 180 km and 245.6 km from the affected-place PM2.5 target and did not directly measure the city air.
U.S. EPA AirData
EPA records show median daily PM2.5 of 44 micrograms per cubic meter across 3 monitors, 2.023 times the adjacent-window level. Co-pollutants at least 10% above the adjacent-window comparison were pm10 (1.802x), nitrogen dioxide (1.116x). Other measured comparisons were carbon monoxide (1.075x), sulfur dioxide (0.917x).
This source supports a possible mechanism or occurrence; it does not establish the cause by itself.
The broad multi-pollutant response does not apportion traffic, heating, industry, wood combustion, or secondary aerosol.
Possible This is a transparent hypothesis supported by limited evidence or an explicit inference, not a definitive attribution.
This episode was grouped from the monitor record by the catalog pipeline and given its cause from the evidence listed above. It has not been individually reviewed and signed off, so its boundaries, cause, and name may change as evidence accumulates. Grouping policy common_sense_root_cause_grouping.v2. The cause label reflects the assembled evidence above, not an IAQng detection formula. If it is wrong, tell us.