Smog Buildup Prompts Health-Threat Advisory

Weekend breezes and warm weather brought lung-threatening smog to Ventura County on Sunday, prompting pollution control officials to issue the year’s first health advisory.

The advisory, which was in effect until Sunday evening, urged that children and anyone with respiratory problems stay indoors and avoid car exhaust and cigarette smoke.

Last year, pollution in the county reached unhealthful levels on only 10 days.

“It’s pretty unhealthy out there,” said Kent Field, an air pollution meteorologist for the county. “These are the kinds of conditions that can lead to lung damage in small children.”

An unusual wind pattern combined with higher than normal temperatures to increase pollution in coastal areas, Field said.

Late last week, Santa Ana winds blew smog-laden air from Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties out over the ocean, Field said.

But on Sunday, a coastal breeze forced the polluted air back into Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo and produced unseasonably warm temperatures across the county. In Simi Valley, the temperature reached 93 degrees Sunday. In Ventura, the day’s high was 82, about 15 degrees warmer than normal for a May 9.

Ojai was also unseasonably hot with temperatures soaring to 96, about 25 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.

Temperatures and pollution levels are expected to be back to normal today, Field said.