South Florida air quality?

Question

I live in North-Central Indiana and have family from one side to the other. In the 2000’s I’ve noticed a drying trend that is bad roughly every other year. When there is sufficient rain, Indiana has fabulous deep blue skies and that translates into excellent air quality & excellent personal health.

I've looked at many photos on flickr from 2007 from all over the world and am surprised to find that those deep blue skies are in such short supply.

I’ve noticed that Miami Florida gets a ton of rain all summer and unlike central Indiana, the rainfall seems pretty reliable year-on-year.

Can anyone from Miami or South Florida confirm that the air is still great for a decent amount of time? I’ve visited south florida, but not since 1999 and know how fabuluous the air can be under the right circumstances.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Miami Dade used to do car smog testing.  based ont he EPA rules, they dropped it a few years ago.  The real reason there is little to no smog or air pollution in south Florida, is there is no heavy manufacturing in south Florida.  

So there are few man made problems with air pollution here.

Still, I have seen many northerners move here only to have rather severe reactions from the various new fungi or asthma instigators from the local flora and fauna.  

So by all means, come on down, and try to do an extended stay.  Plenty of homes to rent for a short stay 1-3 months or such...

Answer 2

The air quality is great almost all of the time. The most important contributor is that we get a steady sea breeze off the Atlantic Ocean almost all year long, which continuously replaces the air over the cities. Of course, our rainy season (summer) rains helps a bit, too.

One thing to note is that for a few days between June and August, Saharan dust travels from Northern Africa across the Atlantic and over Florida. The skies turn from a light blue to a hazy white. But that happens only for a short time. Otherwise, we have some of the cleanest air for a large metro area.

EDIT: I don't notice any difference between before it rains and after it rains. The sky is always a nice blue speckled with white cumulus clouds.