Air quality

Air quality in Niagara Falls, NY today

Updated

Good (US AQI 43) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 10:00 pm (02:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
43 Good
PM2.5
8.3 µg/m³ 0.6× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
8.4 µg/m³
Ozone
79 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
ozone sub-index 43
Best hour tomorrow
6:00 am AQI 36
European AQI
30

Open on the live map

Air quality in Niagara Falls, NY right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Niagara Falls, New York, United States is 43, 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 43. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.

PM2.5 is 8.3 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 8.4 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 79 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 13 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 214 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 58 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 63 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Niagara Falls, NY AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 36 around Mon 5:00 am to 55 around Mon 6:00 pm, from "Good" at best to "Moderate" at worst.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 40 against 45 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (America/New_York)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 10:00 pm43Good8.3879
Mon 1:00 am40Good8879
Mon 4:00 am37Good10.21076
Mon 7:00 am36Good12.21267
Mon 10:00 am42Good18.51957
Mon 1:00 pm51Moderate18.31864
Mon 4:00 pm54Moderate10.91167
Mon 7:00 pm55Moderate5.8650
Mon 10:00 pm54Moderate2.5353
Tue 1:00 am53Moderate1.9255
Tue 4:00 am51Moderate1.4153
Tue 7:00 am47Good0.9153
Tue 10:00 am38Good1159
Tue 1:00 pm26Good1.1165
Tue 4:00 pm29Good1.3269
Tue 7:00 pm31Good2.4362
Tue 10:00 pm30Good2.7358

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 Niagara Falls, NY tomorrow

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 36, Good) and the worst around 6:00 pm (AQI 55). That is a swing of 19 points, so a run or walk around 6:00 am is noticeably better.

Niagara Falls, NY vs the rest of United States

Across 619 United States cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 52 (Moderate). Niagara Falls, NY at 43 is 9 points cleaner than average.

It ranks 160 of 619 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Hilo (22) and the most polluted Springfield, PA (132).

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

Air quality in cities near Niagara Falls, NY

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Niagara Falls1 km42Good10.7
Buffalo27 km42Good10.7
Oakville64 km55Moderate13.6
Hamilton67 km46Good12.5
Burlington71 km55Moderate13.6
Mississauga73 km55Moderate13.6
Toronto73 km42Good11.2
Etobicoke74 km42Good11.2

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Niagara Falls, NY, 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 43, 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 Niagara Falls

Air quality elsewhere

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