Air quality

Air quality in Muzaffargarh today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 142) People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 1:00 am (20:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
142 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
45 µg/m³ 3× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
49 µg/m³
Ozone
49 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 142
Best hour today
1:00 pm AQI 125
European AQI
57

Open on the live map

Air quality in Muzaffargarh right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Muzaffargarh, Punjab, Pakistan is 142, which falls in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" band (up to 150). People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 142. 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 45 µg/m³, 3 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 49 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 49 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 17 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 657 µg/m³.

Muzaffargarh AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 125 around Mon 1:00 pm to 153 around Tue 1:00 am, from "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at best to "Unhealthy" at worst.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 166 against 133 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Karachi)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 1:00 am142Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.24949
Mon 4:00 am135Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups424643
Mon 7:00 am130Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups51.95629
Mon 10:00 am128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups41.651115
Mon 1:00 pm125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups44.665178
Mon 4:00 pm125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups40.660162
Mon 7:00 pm138Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups80.39683
Mon 10:00 pm140Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups105.211844
Tue 1:00 am153Unhealthy116.912725
Tue 4:00 am159Unhealthy103.811122
Tue 7:00 am164Unhealthy110.611823
Tue 10:00 am169Unhealthy70.581117
Tue 1:00 pm170Unhealthy47.665180
Tue 4:00 pm170Unhealthy41.460161
Tue 7:00 pm170Unhealthy62.27299
Tue 10:00 pm168Unhealthy66.87469
Wed 1:00 am164Unhealthy65.47266

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 Muzaffargarh today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 1:00 pm (AQI 125, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 6:00 pm (AQI 138). That is a swing of 13 points, so a run or walk around 1:00 pm is noticeably better.

Muzaffargarh vs the rest of Pakistan

Across 52 Pakistan cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 120 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Muzaffargarh at 142 is 22 points worse than average.

For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 56.

Air quality in cities near Muzaffargarh

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Multan31 km153Unhealthy60.5
Dera Ghazi Khan53 km113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups31.5
Jalalpur Pirwala63 km150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups59.8
Lodhran73 km122Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups35.5
Bahawalpur88 km122Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups35.5
Burewala140 km137Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups49.4
Jhang Sadr171 km150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups93.4
Bhakkar173 km125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups67.3

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Muzaffargarh, 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 117 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 337 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 31 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 142, children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart disease should limit time outdoors, especially strenuous activity. A well-fitted N95/FFP2 mask cuts particle exposure; it does not filter ozone.

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 Muzaffargarh

Air quality elsewhere

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