ST. LOUIS — Residents across Missouri and Illinois got strong whiffs of funky odors on Wednesday. While the golden rule is usually "whoever smelt it, dealt it," this smell has a very good reason behind it.
A post in the "Jersey County Road Conditions" Facebook group about the foul-smelling odor got over 240 sympathetic comments. While some are quite humorous, the smell is definitely something getting peoples' attention outside Wednesday afternoon.
"What is the weird smell outside today? You can smell it all the way to Edwardsville. It smells like wet dog," the original poster said.
The main reason for the smell is the position of a cold front throughout the region. Winds from the north and northwest pushed colder air, and the odor, into the region.
As the front moved through the region, wind directions shifted and went through cattle and hog farms in Iowa and Nebraska. Late-season cold fronts that shift the region's wind are somewhat common during the fall.
The smell is trapped at the surface level for numerous residents around the region, because of the north winds and stable air masses called "temperature inversions." Warmer air is typically at the surface level before getting cooler as it rises. In this case, a warm layer of air is above the surface and traps the smell in the region, leading to today's comments and complaints.
As many farmers would say: "That smells like money to me!" The good news is that smell won't be around for too much longer as the front moves through the region.
