Air quality

Air quality in Manama today

Updated

Moderate (US AQI 94) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 5:00 am (02:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Manama, Bahrain, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
94 Moderate
PM2.5
32 µg/m³ 2.1× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
80 µg/m³
Ozone
69 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 94
Best hour today
6:00 am AQI 95
European AQI
50

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Air quality in Manama right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Manama, Bahrain is 94, 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 94. 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 32 µg/m³, 2.1 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 80 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 69 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 24 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: desert dust at 81 µg/m³, high enough to haze the sky, carbon monoxide 586 µg/m³.

Manama AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 94 around Mon 5:00 am to 99 around Mon 6:00 pm, staying "Moderate" throughout.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 104 against 97 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Bahrain)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 5:00 am94Moderate32.28069
Mon 8:00 am95Moderate40.58764
Mon 11:00 am96Moderate44.59692
Mon 2:00 pm96Moderate44.596126
Mon 5:00 pm98Moderate30.976116
Mon 8:00 pm99Moderate277297
Mon 11:00 pm98Moderate28.67686
Tue 2:00 am98Moderate29.57981
Tue 5:00 am99Moderate348974
Tue 8:00 am99Moderate39.19275
Tue 11:00 am99Moderate45.810189
Tue 2:00 pm99Moderate52.5112104
Tue 5:00 pm103Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups46.9104106
Tue 8:00 pm107Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups36.389112
Tue 11:00 pm109Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups30.580116
Wed 2:00 am110Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups29.982111
Wed 5:00 am110Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups31.986101

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 Manama today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 95, Moderate) and the worst around 6:00 pm (AQI 99). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Air quality in cities near Manama

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Dammam53 km117Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.7
Ar Rayyān134 km93Moderate35.4
Al Mubarraz135 km113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups37.6
Al Hufūf139 km109Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups35.9
Doha141 km93Moderate35.4

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Manama, 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 47 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 348 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 10 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 94, 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 Manama

Air quality elsewhere

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