The state Division of Air Quality counted 28 days of high pollution in Salt Lake and Davis counties from Nov. 1 through Feb. 28, the official end of the pollution season. Utah County had 25, Weber County had 17 and Cache had 10.

Why the high numbers? One reason is that federal standards for "particulate matter," microscopic soot and dust about one-fortieth the width of a human hair, got much tougher. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency substantially lowered the standard for triggering an alert, beginning Dec. 18.

Another reason is obvious to anyone who spent time in northern Utah valleys during pollution spikes in December and January. Contaminated fog, cold and polluted air, trapped under warm upper air, left people coughing and searching for relief indoors and in the mountains.

"It was affecting my health, definitely," said Bob Esterling, an east bench resident who relocated to Utah a couple of years ago from an eastern city.

Like many locals and visitors, he wondered why the pollution was sometimes worse than levels in Los Angeles, where leaders have cleaned up the air. And Esterling questioned what is being done to improve the problem. "I don't know what they are doing. But, whatever it is, it's not enough."

About 760,000 Utahns are under 18 and over 65, while about 600,000 have heart and lung conditions making them particularly vulnerable to the effects of pollution.

State air-quality regulators emphasize educating people about how to protect themselves and air-quality. Last month, they unveiled updated Internet air reports at the Web site www.airquality.utah.gov.

"This year we reformatted our Web page to forecast air quality conditions for three days to help the public make better decisions on days when they should limit their driving or stay indoors," said Rick Sprott, air-quality director.

fahys@sltrib.com

More snow, then things warm up

The active weather pattern that has brought several winter storms to the Wasatch Front and the rest of the state over the past week has just about run its course.

But not quite.

The storm system that dropped 1 to 2 inches of snow on northern Utah's valleys and another 5 to 6 inches in the mountains Thursday is going to linger one more day before clearing out for good.

National Weather Service forecasters are calling for an 80 percent chance of snow today, though most of the showers will occur before noon and will likely deliver no more than 1 inch or 2 in the valleys.

The weekend forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a gradual warming trend from the mid-30s to the low 50s between Saturday and Monday. Highs are expected to reach the mid-50s by the middle of next week.

- Joe Baird