AIR MAIL
Where today’s air came from
The air arriving over Otis about 5,000 feet above the ground was over the western Atlantic three days ago, about 1,780 miles back along its path. The nine paths traced from around the city fan out, so treat that as a best guess. It rose from near the ground on the way. Near the ground the air came from the Atlantic off the Carolinas; at 10,000 feet, from a point about 560 miles to the south. Traced back 72 hours through NOAA’s hourly RAP analyses and the GFS beyond them, nine paths at each of three heights.