Camp Verde’s air quality got steadily worse during the morning hours Friday, Sept. 2, at the start of the long Labor Day weekend.

Many in the Verde Valley awoke to a smoky haze Sept. 2, which obscured the view of Mingus Mountain and the red rocks of Sedona.

That haze lowered the air quality over Sedona, which went from a particulate reading of 0 at 8:30 a.m. to a reading of 25 at 10:30 a.m.

Air Quality in nearby Camp Verde originally measured 38, making air quality “unhealthy for sensitive individuals,” but improved to a reading of 16, or “moderate,” by 10:30 a.m.

As of 2:30 p.m., Sedona measured 55, “unhealthy for sensitive individuals.” Meanwhile weather over Camp Verde has risen to 59, “unhealthy” for all individuals.

The haze isn’t being attributed to any nearby fires, however, but to dust from a storm that rolled through the Phoenix area around 2 a.m. Sept. 2.

Ken Daniel, spokesman for the National Weather Service in Flagstaff, said the haze is likely caused from the Phoenix storms, but said smoke could also be adding to the air quality.

“There were some good thunderstorm complexes over southern Arizona,” Daniel said. “Another potential contributor to that is some of the wildfire smoke settling overnight. Right now, it’s primarily from dust.”

Karen Malis-Clark, spokeswoman for the Coconino National Forest, also aid dust from southern Arizona is a factor, air flow may also be bringing smoke from a fire near Blythe as well.

“Most of our fires are pretty inactive right now,” Malis-Clark said. “It’s a big picture over the Southwest.”

Vist the ADEQ website by clicking here.

Patrick Whitehurst

Larson Newspapers