Thunder Over Louisville Hasn't Noticeably Changed Air Quality in Years Past

Half a million people are expected to watch Thunder Over Louisville tomorrow. Many of them will drive cars into Louisville. One hundred planes will fly overhead. And at the end of the day, more than 60 tons of fireworks will be detonated over the Ohio River.And yet, all the available data shows that Louisville’s air quality is more affected by numerous small-scale Fourth of July fireworks than this weekend’s festivities.“Air Pollution Control has not found Thunder to create any kind of spike in our monitoring for particulate matter,” Air Pollution Control District spokesman Tom Nord said.There have been no air quality alert days following Thunder in the past five years, which is all the data available. Nord says most of the smoke likely dissipates, or moves away from Louisville.This year, a forecaster at the National Weather Service’s local office says Louisville will be experiencing winds from the northeast tomorrow night. This means Thunder’s smoke and other air pollution will travel southwest, away from the city.