Hillsborough County environmental officials don’t expect a repeat of the ozone pollution alert issued Wednesday, though there’s little difference in the forecasts for today and Wednesday.

The weather service says there’s fairly good mixing in the atmosphere, at least up to 10,000 feet, enough to avoid any stagnation.

On Wednesday afternoon the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, the agency that tracks such things, issued an alert that ozone levels hit 87 at an air monitoring station near Big Bend. That was enough to exceed the ozone standard and push the Air Quality Index to 101, just into the range that can cause problems for people sensitive to pollutants, usually folks with respiratory problems.

An index of 101 to 150 triggers an alert.

Ozone levels climbed enough to push the index over 100 in southeast Hillsborough, eastern Manatee County and over most of Polk County on Wednesday afternoon. You can check time-lapse maps of past air pollution as well as get forecasts of air quality at this nifty government site called AIRNow

The air pollution forecast for today puts ozone in the moderate range.

Ozone levels start low in the mornings and build during the day as the sun cooks emissions, mainly those from cars and power plants, and creates ozone. 

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