Air quality

Air quality in Marion today

Updated

Good (US AQI 25) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 1:00 pm (18:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
25 Good
PM2.5
2.7 µg/m³ 0.2× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
2.7 µg/m³
Ozone
79 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
ozone sub-index 25
Best hour today
1:00 pm AQI 25
European AQI
30

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Air quality in Marion right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Marion, Iowa, United States is 25, 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 ozone, whose own sub-index is 25. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.

PM2.5 is 2.7 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 2.7 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 79 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 4 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: UV index 3.3, carbon monoxide 175 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 27 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 88 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Marion AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 25 around Sun 1:00 pm to 49 around Mon 1:00 pm, staying "Good" throughout.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 52 against 36 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (America/Chicago)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 1:00 pm25Good2.7379
Sun 4:00 pm30Good4494
Sun 7:00 pm37Good9.51057
Sun 10:00 pm33Good15.11529
Mon 1:00 am31Good15.51622
Mon 4:00 am39Good8.7932
Mon 7:00 am43Good6.2632
Mon 10:00 am46Good7737
Mon 1:00 pm49Good8.1850
Mon 4:00 pm51Moderate7.8870
Mon 7:00 pm52Moderate11.31153
Mon 10:00 pm52Moderate12.31249
Tue 1:00 am51Moderate12.91348
Tue 4:00 am51Moderate14.11445
Tue 7:00 am53Moderate16.41641
Tue 10:00 am55Moderate14.31445
Tue 1:00 pm56Moderate5.4680

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 Marion today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 1:00 pm (AQI 25, Good) and the worst around 7:00 pm (AQI 37). That is a swing of 12 points, so a run or walk around 1:00 pm is noticeably better.

Marion vs the rest of United States

Across 747 United States cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 48 (Good). Marion at 25 is 23 points cleaner than average.

It ranks 47 of 747 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Aberdeen, SD (13) and the most polluted Springfield, PA (130).

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

Air quality in cities near Marion

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Waterloo, IA80 km24Good4.4
Davenport102 km24Good3.2
Burlington, IA142 km25Good2.5
Ames167 km47Good7
Des Moines174 km40Good9.9
Rockford208 km25Good2.5
Austin, MN213 km38Good5
Madison214 km28Good2.3

Model vs measured

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

Air quality elsewhere

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