Air quality

Air quality in Alameda today

Updated

Moderate (US AQI 62) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 6:00 pm (01:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Alameda, California, United States, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
62 Moderate
PM2.5
16 µg/m³ 1.1× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
19 µg/m³
Ozone
43 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 62
Best hour today
6:00 pm AQI 62
European AQI
45

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Air quality in Alameda right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Alameda, California, United States is 62, which falls in the "Moderate" band (up to 100). Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.

The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 62. Fine and coarse particles come from traffic, heating, industry, dust and smoke; they build up on calm nights and clear when wind or rain arrives.

PM2.5 is 16 µg/m³, 1.1 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 19 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 43 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 34 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 152 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 15 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 23 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Alameda AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 56 around Mon 5:00 pm to 64 around Sun 9:00 pm, staying "Moderate" throughout.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 47 against 62 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (America/Los_Angeles)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 6:00 pm62Moderate16.31943
Sun 9:00 pm64Moderate16.52041
Mon 12:00 am64Moderate13.81857
Mon 3:00 am64Moderate13.61859
Mon 6:00 am63Moderate12.21758
Mon 9:00 am62Moderate11.11660
Mon 12:00 pm61Moderate8.61375
Mon 3:00 pm58Moderate6.91179
Mon 6:00 pm56Moderate6.31075
Mon 9:00 pm53Moderate7.81267
Tue 12:00 am51Moderate6.41063
Tue 3:00 am49Good6.41065
Tue 6:00 am44Good8.41265
Tue 9:00 am42Good10.31567
Tue 12:00 pm42Good101581
Tue 3:00 pm44Good10.61685
Tue 6:00 pm47Good10.81779

Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.

Best time to be outside in Alameda today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 6:00 pm (AQI 62, Moderate) and the worst around 9:00 pm (AQI 64). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Alameda vs the rest of United States

Across 619 United States cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 53 (Moderate). Alameda at 62 is 9 points worse than average.

For context, the median across 3,556 cities worldwide is 58.

Air quality in cities near Alameda

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Oakland4 km71Moderate15.6
Berkeley11 km71Moderate15.6
San Francisco14 km61Moderate13.7
Ashland15 km61Moderate18.5
Daly City19 km61Moderate13.7
Hayward19 km61Moderate18.5
Richmond, CA20 km71Moderate15.6
San Pablo, CA23 km71Moderate15.6

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Alameda, so the numbers on this page are model estimates. Models capture regional pollution well but can miss very local sources such as a busy road or a nearby fire.

Advice for sensitive groups

At 62, most people are fine outdoors. If you are unusually sensitive to PM2.5, keep long or intense workouts to the cleaner hours shown above.

What the US AQI numbers mean

US AQICategoryWhat it means
0-50GoodAir quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.
51-100ModerateAcceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
101-150Unhealthy for Sensitive GroupsPeople with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
151-200UnhealthyEveryone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed.
201-300Very UnhealthyHealth alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors.
301-500HazardousEmergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500.

Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.

Nearby cities

More for Alameda

Air quality elsewhere

Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.