Air quality
Air quality in Kumasi today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 79) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 8:00 pm (20:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 79 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 38 µg/m³ 2.5× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 74 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 45 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 79
- Best hour tomorrow
- 9:00 pm AQI 63
- European AQI
- 53
Air quality in Kumasi right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Kumasi, Ashanti, Ghana is 79, 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 79. 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 38 µg/m³, 2.5 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 74 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 45 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 16 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: desert dust at 68 µg/m³, high enough to haze the sky, carbon monoxide 325 µg/m³.
Kumasi AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 65 around Mon 8:00 pm to 79 around Sun 8:00 pm, staying "Moderate" throughout.
The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 54 against 74 for the next 24 hours.
| Local time (Africa/Accra) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 8:00 pm | 79 | Moderate | 38.1 | 74 | 45 |
| Sun 11:00 pm | 79 | Moderate | 29.2 | 55 | 45 |
| Mon 2:00 am | 76 | Moderate | 13.2 | 19 | 37 |
| Mon 5:00 am | 74 | Moderate | 6 | 8 | 29 |
| Mon 8:00 am | 73 | Moderate | 8.8 | 18 | 47 |
| Mon 11:00 am | 73 | Moderate | 14.6 | 31 | 75 |
| Mon 2:00 pm | 72 | Moderate | 15.5 | 31 | 91 |
| Mon 5:00 pm | 69 | Moderate | 16.1 | 29 | 70 |
| Mon 8:00 pm | 65 | Moderate | 14.1 | 23 | 56 |
| Mon 11:00 pm | 59 | Moderate | 9.6 | 14 | 48 |
| Tue 2:00 am | 56 | Moderate | 8.3 | 12 | 40 |
| Tue 5:00 am | 55 | Moderate | 6.5 | 10 | 35 |
| Tue 8:00 am | 55 | Moderate | 5.2 | 8 | 43 |
| Tue 11:00 am | 54 | Moderate | 5.7 | 10 | 62 |
| Tue 2:00 pm | 52 | Moderate | 5.6 | 9 | 73 |
| Tue 5:00 pm | 48 | Good | 6.8 | 11 | 64 |
| Tue 8:00 pm | 41 | Good | 7.8 | 11 | 49 |
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 Kumasi tomorrow
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 63, Moderate) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 74). That is a swing of 11 points, so a run or walk around 9:00 pm is noticeably better.
Kumasi vs the rest of Ghana
Across 6 Ghana cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 59 (Moderate). Kumasi at 79 is 20 points worse than average.
It ranks 5 of 6 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Takoradi (42) and the most polluted Tamale (99).
For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 56.
Air quality in cities near Kumasi
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sekondi | 195 km | 42 | Good | 6.8 |
| Sekondi-Takoradi | 196 km | 42 | Good | 6.8 |
| Takoradi | 200 km | 42 | Good | 6.8 |
| Accra | 202 km | 49 | Good | 8.6 |
| Anyama | 299 km | 55 | Moderate | 13.3 |
| Abobo | 300 km | 55 | Moderate | 13.3 |
| Koumassi | 302 km | 49 | Good | 6.6 |
| Abidjan | 302 km | 49 | Good | 6.6 |
Model vs measured
We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Kumasi, 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.
Wildfire smoke
PM2.5 is forecast to reach 38 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 39 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 44 km away). Smoke is a likely contributor: keep windows closed, run an air purifier or HVAC filter, and check the fire map before heading out.
Advice for sensitive groups
At 79, 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 AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency 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 Kumasi
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.