Air quality

Air quality in La Crosse today

Updated

Good (US AQI 32) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 9:00 pm (02:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
32 Good
PM2.5
6 µg/m³ 0.4× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
6.6 µg/m³
Ozone
59 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 32
Best hour tomorrow
6:00 am AQI 23
European AQI
22

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Air quality in La Crosse right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States is 32, which falls in the "Good" band (up to 50). Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.

The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 32. 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 6 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 6.6 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 59 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 3.5 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 154 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 7 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 103 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

La Crosse AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 23 around Mon 6:00 am to 32 around Sun 9:00 pm, staying "Good" throughout.

The following day looks similar, averaging about 27.

Local time (America/Chicago)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 9:00 pm32Good6759
Mon 12:00 am29Good3.2350
Mon 3:00 am26Good1.5248
Mon 6:00 am23Good1.7253
Mon 9:00 am23Good3.4452
Mon 12:00 pm24Good4557
Mon 3:00 pm26Good4.5559
Mon 6:00 pm27Good4.8558
Mon 9:00 pm27Good4456
Tue 12:00 am26Good2.4355
Tue 3:00 am26Good1.2158
Tue 6:00 am26Good1.4258
Tue 9:00 am26Good1.6252
Tue 12:00 pm26Good3.4359
Tue 3:00 pm27Good6.2681
Tue 6:00 pm32Good6.7784
Tue 9:00 pm37Good5.6680

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 La Crosse tomorrow

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 23, Good) and the worst around 6:00 pm (AQI 27). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

La Crosse vs the rest of United States

Across 619 United States cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 52 (Moderate). La Crosse at 32 is 20 points cleaner than average.

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

Air quality in cities near La Crosse

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Rochester, MN102 km29Good2.9
Eau Claire114 km31Good3.2
Madison169 km36Good12.7
Waterloo, IA171 km35Good12.6
Wausau181 km28Good2.2
Saint Paul195 km29Good11.3
Marion199 km35Good13.6
Richfield202 km29Good11.3

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of La Crosse, 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

With the AQI at 32, there is no need for sensitive groups to change plans. People with asthma should still carry their reliever inhaler as usual.

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 La Crosse

Air quality elsewhere

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