The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has forecast a Code Orange Air Quality Action Day for ozone for Thursday, August 1st, for Montgomery County and surrounding areas.

“Mostly sunny skies, light southwest winds, and high temperatures in the middle to upper 90s will likely contribute to 8-hour average concentrations of ozone in the Code Orange range,” the department said in a statement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index (AQI) provides standardized color codes for forecasting and reporting daily air quality. Orange represents unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive groups of people.

An Air Quality Action Day is issued when the AQI is forecasted to be code orange or higher. On air quality action days, young children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and should limit outdoor activities.

Residents and businesses within the Air Quality Action Day area(s) are strongly encouraged to voluntarily help reduce air pollution by:

• Conserving electricity by setting air conditioning to a higher temperature;
• Combining errands to reduce vehicle trips;
• Limiting engine idling; and
• Refueling cars and trucks after dusk.

For more information, visit DEP at www.dep.pa.gov, or EPA’s AirNow website at www.airnow.gov.