Good place to retire with no ozone alerts & with trout fishing (Knoxville: air pollution, association)

[Emu]

Looking for a place in Tennessee with no ozone alerts that has good trout fishing. Sensitive to the high air pollution found in mountain area of TN.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Emu

Looking for a place in Tennessee with no ozone alerts that has good trout fishing. Sensitive to the high air pollution found in mountain area of TN.

Have you looked into Norris (northern Anderson County)? You can read about the town here (both links below are government websites):

TVA: An American Ideal

The Clinch River Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets in Norris. Norris Dam State Park is known for both river and lake trout fishing. See here:

TN State Parks: Norris Dam State Park

The Tennessee state record brown trout was caught in the waters of the Clinch River below Norris Dam.

You might want to do a single Google search on these keywords for more info:

Norris TN trout

As far as ozone goes, can't help you with that. I know weather.com posts hourly ozone level info for each location but don't know where historical info is posted. Not sure if a town as small as Norris would merit a reading. The American Lung Association has a regional analysis on their website.

They say Sevier County is the 11th most ozone polluted county in the nation and Knoxville-Sevierville-La Follette, TN, ranks as the 9th most ozone-polluted city in the nation.

As far as Anderson County goes, in 2004 they had 32 Orange Ozone Days and 1 Red Ozone Day. Now do those numbers change the closer or further away you get from Knoxville (Norris is further away than say Oak Ridge in Anderson County)? I don't know.

[TeeJayMaJay]

Is there a web site where you can find out what the air pollution is throughout the US? I thought I saw that awhile back and now can't locate it. Was looking at MO (Springfield mo area) and it was listed as HIGHLY TOXIC! Over the national average even. (must be gasses from the old mines - guessing here)

[hiknapster]

Somebody posted this website on the Knoxville sub-forum:

AIRNow - Home

[Father John]

There is high ozone in the Tennessee mountains? I am shocked if that is true. The maps I have seen show good to moderate with occasional warnings for sensitive people in the lower elevations - not usually in the higher elevations.

[Emu]

Father John,

A doctor told me that the higher up you go the worse the ozone level becomes. I'm sensitive and was staying in a valley. During a trip up into the mountains and to Boone, NC from eastern TN is when I really noticed a problem with irritated lungs. I could even taste a metallic taste in my mouth.

You would think of that fresh mountain air, etc. But apparently when the conditions are just right those mountains must trap the pollution until the weather changes.

[Father John]

Originally Posted by Emu

Father John,

A doctor told me that the higher up you go the worse the ozone level becomes. I'm sensitive and was staying in a valley. During a trip up into the mountains and to Boone, NC from eastern TN is when I really noticed a problem with irritated lungs. I could even taste a metallic taste in my mouth.

You would think of that fresh mountain air, etc. But apparently when the conditions are just right those mountains must trap the pollution until the weather changes.

That's good to know. Ozone alerts here in the Phoenix area (relatively frequent) often give me raging headaches. I will definitely take this good information to heart as I look at different areas.

According to charts I have seen, the tri-city area is almost always good to moderate. That is what I like because that is where I am looking...

[chickadee]

That clean, fresh mountain air is not quite so clean and fresh!

Here is a U.S. Air Quality Gradebook site that may be of interest. You can see the general patterns in each state, and also specific counties:

US Air Quality Gradebook - Maps

I hope this helps in your search for the right place.

[Father John]

Originally Posted by chickadee

That clean, fresh mountain air is not quite so clean and fresh!

Here is a U.S. Air Quality Gradebook site that may be of interest. You can see the general patterns in each state, and also specific counties:

US Air Quality Gradebook - Maps

I hope this helps in your search for the right place.

Good grief! That makes Tennessee look like one of the dirtiest air quality places around! Red is worst, yellow is next to worst, green is average, light blue is good and dark blue is best. There is no blue in Tennessee. Then again, there is no dark blue anywhere in the USA and very little light blue. So I guess it all is relative...

[hiknapster]

It seems that the summer is very bad. From September to April, it is pretty nice in Knoxville, but the other months are horrible.

Lots of mornings, this month, I have seen TDOT warnings on the highway that say there is an air health alert and we should restrict driving. I guess I should turn around and go home!