Air quality

Air quality in Kwai Chung today

Updated

Moderate (US AQI 88) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 10:00 am (02:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Kwai Chung, Kwai Tsing District, Hong Kong, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
88 Moderate
PM2.5
29 µg/m³ 1.9× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
30 µg/m³
Ozone
73 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 88
Best hour today
10:00 am AQI 88
European AQI
48

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Air quality in Kwai Chung right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Kwai Chung, Kwai Tsing District, Hong Kong is 88, 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 88. 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 29 µg/m³, 1.9 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 30 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 73 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 28 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: UV index 5.3, carbon monoxide 284 µg/m³.

Kwai Chung AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 88 around Mon 10:00 am to 94 around Tue 7:00 am, staying "Moderate" throughout.

The following day looks similar, averaging about 95.

Local time (Asia/Hong_Kong)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 10:00 am88Moderate29.23073
Mon 1:00 pm89Moderate25.526122
Mon 4:00 pm90Moderate27.128121
Mon 7:00 pm92Moderate35.93763
Mon 10:00 pm92Moderate364044
Tue 1:00 am92Moderate364157
Tue 4:00 am93Moderate33.83849
Tue 7:00 am94Moderate38.84135
Tue 10:00 am93Moderate26.72891
Tue 1:00 pm93Moderate25.727140
Tue 4:00 pm93Moderate29.631127
Tue 7:00 pm94Moderate394182
Tue 10:00 pm96Moderate465385
Wed 1:00 am98Moderate38.246113
Wed 4:00 am97Moderate2429104
Wed 7:00 am95Moderate272878
Wed 10:00 am93Moderate28.630104

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 Kwai Chung today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 10:00 am (AQI 88, Moderate) and the worst around 7:00 pm (AQI 92). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Kwai Chung vs the rest of Hong Kong

Across 23 Hong Kong cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 84 (Moderate). Kwai Chung at 88 is about average.

It ranks 9 of 23 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Hong Kong (84) and the most polluted Jordan (84).

For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.

Air quality in cities near Kwai Chung

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Tsuen Wan3 km84Moderate17
Tsing Yi Town4 km84Moderate17
Sham Shui Po5 km84Moderate17
Sha Tin5 km84Moderate17
Wong Tai Sin5 km84Moderate17
Kowloon City7 km84Moderate17
Jordan8 km84Moderate17
Victoria9 km84Moderate17

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Kwai Chung, 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 39 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 33 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 19 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 88, 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 Kwai Chung

Air quality elsewhere

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