Stagnant pollution mixture Possible
Daily PM2.5 peaked at 50 µg/m³ near Omaha across 1 covered metro home to 1.0 million people. 1 metro placed a top-ten day in their record.
Counting the extra PM2.5 above each metro's typical day, this event handed the average affected resident ≈ 1.9 cigarettes. Across everyone living in the affected metros, that is the collective equivalent of ≈ 1.9 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
Omaha's three-monitor daily PM2.5 level rose to more than four times the adjacent-window value, with fourfold PM10 and higher carbon monoxide. The local airport recorded weak wind, haze, mist, and restricted visibility, while NWS described a slow-moving surface ridge producing light wind and occasional haze. This supports stagnant mixed-pollution accumulation as a possible mechanism.
Possible This is a transparent hypothesis supported by limited evidence or an explicit inference, not a definitive attribution.
National Weather Service surface observations via Iowa Environmental Mesonet · Jan 5, 2010 hypothesis
OMAHA/EPPLEY recorded calm conditions during 38% of event hours and wind at or below three knots during 63%. Observations included 6 haze hours, 12 mist hours, minimum visibility 0.25 miles.
U.S. EPA AirData hypothesis
EPA records show median daily PM2.5 of 43.1 micrograms per cubic meter across 3 monitors, 4.236 times the adjacent-window level. Co-pollutants at least 10% above the adjacent-window comparison were pm10 (4x), carbon monoxide (1.821x), sulfur dioxide (1.119x).
National Weather Service Omaha via Iowa Environmental Mesonet · Jan 4, 2010 hypothesis
The NWS forecast covering January 5 described a slow-moving surface high dominating the period, producing light winds and occasional haze or light fog with visibility restrictions.
Inference, not direct attribution
official_surface_weak_dispersion_multimonitor_accumulation.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
official_surface_weak_dispersion_multimonitor_accumulation.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 2.3 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 “Stagnant pollution mixture” explanation; it does not assign the cause by itself.
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
Monitor comparison window 2010-01-02 to 2010-01-08 · PM2.5 target: 4102 Woolworth Ave. on Healthcenter Warehouse
265% above nearby days
9 calm hours observed
Haze reported during 6 hours
265% higher than surrounding days
277% higher than surrounding days
73% higher than surrounding days
7% higher than surrounding days
6 kt maximum · 9 of 24 observed hours calm
14 observed hours at or below 3 miles
-15°F to 8.1°F
91% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | 50 µg/m³ | 2.3 | Jan 5, 2010 | #9 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
OMAHA/EPPLEY recorded calm conditions during 38% of event hours and wind at or below three knots during 63%. Observations included 6 haze hours, 12 mist hours, minimum visibility 0.25 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.
National Weather Service Omaha via Iowa Environmental Mesonet
The NWS forecast covering January 5 described a slow-moving surface high dominating the period, producing light winds and occasional haze or light fog with visibility restrictions.
This source supports a possible mechanism or occurrence; it does not establish the cause by itself.
The NWS forecast describes poor ventilation but does not identify the accumulated emissions or quantify their PM2.5 contributions.
South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources / U.S. EPA archive
An official assessment of a separate December 2009 episode reports fine-particle transport and buildup across Iowa and Omaha under light winds and local temperature inversions, while distinguishing that episode from exceptional wildfire smoke.
This source supports a possible mechanism or occurrence; it does not establish the cause by itself.
This confirms a recurring Omaha accumulation mechanism but does not assess January 5, 2010.
U.S. EPA AirData
EPA records show median daily PM2.5 of 43.1 micrograms per cubic meter across 3 monitors, 4.236 times the adjacent-window level. Co-pollutants at least 10% above the adjacent-window comparison were pm10 (4x), carbon monoxide (1.821x), sulfur dioxide (1.119x).
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.