We have one more storm system to get through before things warm up, dry out and clear up around here. A moderate storm front will move through the region Starting Tuesday morning, bringing a pretty good chance of valley rain, although there will be significant rain shadowing going on, and the west side of the valley will likely get more than elsewhere. Temperatures will drop to the low 60s in the valley, and snow levels will fall below most of the mountains passes, but will likely remain slightly above Lake Tahoe itself. Scattered showers will continue into early Wednesday, after which the skies will begin to clear, bringing a cool low 60s on Wednesday, a warmer high on Thursday near 70, and highs into the low 80s by the weekend.

To find out how clean is the air which we breathe, you can use the Air Quality Index. The AQI is a color-coded index which gives you an idea how clean (or polluted) the air is, and what health effects the air might have on the population. The EPA has established health standards for concentrations of five different pollutants, and established the AQI scale accordingly. Tomorrow, I’ll go over the pollutants.