Air quality
Air quality in Moscow today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 82) 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 Moscow, Russia, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 82 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 23 µg/m³ 1.5× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 32 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 19 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 82
- Best hour today
- 1:00 pm AQI 80
- European AQI
- 44
Air quality in Moscow right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Moscow, Russia is 82, 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 82. 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 23 µg/m³, 1.5 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 32 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 19 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 32 µg/m³ (above the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: carbon monoxide 210 µg/m³.
Moscow AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 80 around Mon 1:00 pm to 87 around Tue 5:00 am, staying "Moderate" throughout.
The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 113 against 82 for the next 24 hours.
| Local time (Europe/Moscow) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 5:00 am | 82 | Moderate | 22.6 | 32 | 19 |
| Mon 8:00 am | 81 | Moderate | 36.2 | 43 | 2 |
| Mon 11:00 am | 81 | Moderate | 26.9 | 37 | 21 |
| Mon 2:00 pm | 80 | Moderate | 25.2 | 37 | 26 |
| Mon 5:00 pm | 81 | Moderate | 27.8 | 32 | 6 |
| Mon 8:00 pm | 81 | Moderate | 30.8 | 39 | 4 |
| Mon 11:00 pm | 83 | Moderate | 28.7 | 36 | 7 |
| Tue 2:00 am | 85 | Moderate | 28.9 | 39 | 17 |
| Tue 5:00 am | 87 | Moderate | 33.8 | 41 | 10 |
| Tue 8:00 am | 89 | Moderate | 56.7 | 73 | 1 |
| Tue 11:00 am | 95 | Moderate | 52.8 | 79 | 6 |
| Tue 2:00 pm | 102 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 52.5 | 78 | 9 |
| Tue 5:00 pm | 113 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 67 | 89 | 1 |
| Tue 8:00 pm | 124 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 61.1 | 78 | 0 |
| Tue 11:00 pm | 133 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 58.2 | 70 | 0 |
| Wed 2:00 am | 142 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 54.2 | 70 | 1 |
| Wed 5:00 am | 150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 53.2 | 70 | 0 |
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 Moscow today
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 1:00 pm (AQI 80, Moderate) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 82). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.
Moscow vs the rest of Russia
Across 71 Russia cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 47 (Good). Moscow at 82 is 35 points worse than average.
It ranks 67 of 71 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Penza (19) and the most polluted Ufa (92).
For context, the median across 3,556 cities worldwide is 58.
Air quality in cities near Moscow
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherëmushki | 10 km | 82 | Moderate | 22.6 |
| Kaluga | 161 km | 37 | Good | 5.1 |
| Tver | 162 km | 47 | Good | 6.2 |
| Tula | 173 km | 54 | Moderate | 6.5 |
| Vladimir | 178 km | 23 | Good | 2.7 |
| Ryazan’ | 182 km | 30 | Good | 4.7 |
| Ivanovo | 249 km | 29 | Good | 3.5 |
| Yaroslavl | 250 km | 59 | Moderate | 14 |
Model vs measured
The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 2.3 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 87 sensors), centred about 3 km from the city centre. That is 20.3 µg/m³ below the model estimate of 23 µg/m³. Low-cost sensors can read high in humid air; reference monitors are more accurate but sparser.
Wildfire smoke
PM2.5 is forecast to reach 39 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 47 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 52 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 82, 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 Moscow
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community, NASA FIRMS.