Strangely enough there are 2 rainfall "years" that are measured. Here is a look at what was going on from 2013-2014. So far this year we are at 50% of average. The only good news is that NorCal is doing slightly better, reservoirs are a little higher, and we have done a better job of capture. Still, the rainfall we have had is so minimal, it isn't worth much toward the situation. "A new study says that cancer-causing pollutants have dropped more than 50% Southern California’s air quality is getting better, according to a study released Thursday. Cancer-causing pollutants have dropped over 50% on average since 2005, the last time the South Coast Air Quality Management District checked air quality extensively. Efforts to reduce emissions from diesel trucks and other vehicles can account for a great deal of the drop. California residents may have noticed the positive effects of such endeavors in the sky: smog rarely browns out the mountains in the region now." CA still occupies plenty of the top spots in the smoggiest city contest but most of those are central valley locations where crop burning is exacerbated by the heat and big rigs are the major mode of vehicle on the interstate. The Santa Ana's can help to discharge but not often enough. Dallas and Houston are up there too along with DC. Still, with 18 million people, smog is gonna happen.
The geography is against L.A. Dallas and Houston are on the great plains and the wind is steady and disperses the pollution. But the mountains surrounding Los Angeles hem in the wind and the smog just sits there. I've stood in gorgeous clear air in the mountains behind Pasadena and looked down on a brown cloud where LA should have been, just a few skyscrapers visible above it.
That was the past. As noted in the above quote, brown outs rarely occur and pollutants have decreased 50% in just the last 10 years. The SCAQMD really did a great job with all their measures and deploying a solid smog check system for cars, trucks, etc. The downside to reduced smog levels is that it also resulted from a massive erosion of the industrial base in SoCal. If a stage 3 smog alert was called, kids didn't go outside much or play PE. The last stage 3 was called (in LA) in 1974, stage 2 in 1988, and just one since 1998, and that was in 2003. There were times as a kid that I remember having trouble taking in a deep breath after having played outside on a smoggy day. That hasn't happened since I was a kid. Bad, still? Yes. Getting better? Absolutely and that's surprising considering the mass of humanity.
Yeah, the worst was in the 70's, for sure, it was shocking to a small-town boy. But the last time I was there in 2006, smog was still very noticeable. We have air pollution in Baton Rouge because of the semi-tropical climate and the industry along the river. Our issue is ozone, which is clear and we can't see the pollution, but you can damn sure see it in L.A. I completely understand why California emission laws are the strictest in the nation. Smog is impossible to ignore in L.A.
