One word you learn soon after moving to Northern Utah, especially in the winter months, is “inversion”. That’s when a mass of warm air sits on top of the colder air underneath and basically acts like a lid on the cold air. It happens frequently in the Salt Lake valley because of the mountains all around that prevent air movement. One of the unlucky consequences is that pollution can’t escape and builds up in the valley. Due to a week-long inversion event, Salt Lake had the honor of rating the worst air quality in the U.S. this week. Congrats, Salt Lake!

Salt Lake City. Really. It's in there.