Air quality

Air quality in Ras Al Khaimah today

Updated

Moderate (US AQI 89) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 10:00 pm (18:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
89 Moderate
PM2.5
33 µg/m³ 2.2× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
59 µg/m³
Ozone
96 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 89
Best hour tomorrow
6:00 am AQI 93
European AQI
50

Open on the live map

Air quality in Ras Al Khaimah right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates is 89, 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 89. 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 33 µg/m³, 2.2 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 59 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 96 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 219 µg/m³.

Ras Al Khaimah AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 89 around Sun 10:00 pm to 112 around Mon 10:00 pm, from "Moderate" at best to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at worst.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 125 against 97 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Dubai)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 10:00 pm89Moderate32.75996
Mon 1:00 am90Moderate32.45272
Mon 4:00 am92Moderate29.34657
Mon 7:00 am93Moderate30.44852
Mon 10:00 am95Moderate41.482119
Mon 1:00 pm99Moderate44.788136
Mon 4:00 pm104Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups52.6153137
Mon 7:00 pm108Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups55.1168119
Mon 10:00 pm112Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.98989
Tue 1:00 am116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups50.29872
Tue 4:00 am122Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups49.69454
Tue 7:00 am128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups44.98243
Tue 10:00 am131Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups38.89792
Tue 1:00 pm129Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups40.595106
Tue 4:00 pm128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.8131115
Tue 7:00 pm125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups51.8159112
Tue 10:00 pm125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.39498

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 Ras Al Khaimah tomorrow

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 93, Moderate) and the worst around 9:00 pm (AQI 111). That is a swing of 18 points, so a run or walk around 6:00 am is noticeably better.

Ras Al Khaimah vs the rest of United Arab Emirates

Across 9 United Arab Emirates cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 100 (Moderate). Ras Al Khaimah at 89 is 11 points cleaner than average.

It ranks 3 of 9 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Al Ain City (80) and the most polluted Ajman (123).

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

Air quality in cities near Ras Al Khaimah

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Ajman63 km123Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups55.1
Sharjah73 km117Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups60.3
Fujairah85 km93Moderate32.9
Warīsān88 km117Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups60.3
Dubai102 km98Moderate37
Jebel Ali121 km98Moderate37
Bandar Abbas159 km121Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups37.7
Al Ain City179 km80Moderate34.3

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Ras Al Khaimah, 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 60 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 76 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 23 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 89, 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 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 Ras Al Khaimah

Air quality elsewhere

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