Grump.

I despise Salt Lake's winter weather.

Partly, of course, it's the cold, but even more than that there's the inversion.

I have no idea how the physics work, but apparently a layer of cold air gets trapped under a layer of warmer air and can't go anywhere. Naturally, any pollutants that get into the cold air can't leave either. This has the effects of keeping the temperature colder and slapping you in the face with all the accumulated pollution since the last snowstorm any time you open a door or window.

The only thing I know that can get rid of an inversion is a decent-sized snowfall. That's why I've been hoping this winter would be more like the '08-'09 winter than the '07-'08 one, but no such luck. See, last year there was snow every few days. Not a lot of it, but enough, and often enough, to keep the air fairly clean. And because of that it was able to melt in between.

I bet they don't get inversions in the southern halves of Arizona and New Mexico, what with not a lot of mountains.