Air quality

Air quality in Okigwe today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 119) 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, 2:00 am (01:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Okigwe, Imo State, Nigeria, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
119 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
39 µg/m³ 2.6× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
42 µg/m³
Ozone
47 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 119
Best hour today
9:00 pm AQI 103
European AQI
54

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Air quality in Okigwe right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Okigwe, Imo State, Nigeria is 119, 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 119. 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 39 µg/m³, 2.6 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 42 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 47 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 6.7 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 751 µg/m³.

Okigwe AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 100 around Mon 11:00 pm to 119 around Mon 2:00 am, from "Moderate" at best to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at worst.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 115 against 109 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Africa/Lagos)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 2:00 am119Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups39.24247
Mon 5:00 am116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups28.93133
Mon 8:00 am113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups21.42345
Mon 11:00 am110Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups18.22181
Mon 2:00 pm108Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups21.12890
Mon 5:00 pm109Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups32.83770
Mon 8:00 pm106Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups55.85950
Mon 11:00 pm100Moderate67.16938
Tue 2:00 am103Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups646730
Tue 5:00 am107Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups383926
Tue 8:00 am113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups35.93738
Tue 11:00 am116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups18.62177
Tue 2:00 pm116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups20.42588
Tue 5:00 pm114Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups22.42768
Tue 8:00 pm113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups858743
Tue 11:00 pm124Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups124.812721
Wed 2:00 am137Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups97.310022

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 Okigwe today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 103, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 114). That is a swing of 11 points, so a run or walk around 9:00 pm is noticeably better.

Okigwe vs the rest of Nigeria

Across 69 Nigeria cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 100 (Moderate). Okigwe at 119 is 19 points worse than average.

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

Air quality in cities near Okigwe

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Umuahia37 km78Moderate25.6
Owerri52 km95Moderate33.8
Nkpor68 km88Moderate28.5
Enugu70 km107Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups35.6
Onitsha72 km88Moderate28.5
Aba80 km82Moderate28.5
Uyo108 km75Moderate26.1
Port Harcourt123 km70Moderate24.4

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Okigwe, 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 68 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 83 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 64 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 119, 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 Okigwe

Air quality elsewhere

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