Air quality
Air quality in Rawalpindi today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 94) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 5:00 am (00:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 94 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 21 µg/m³ 1.4× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 22 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 35 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 94
- Best hour today
- 4:00 pm AQI 92
- European AQI
- 43
Air quality in Rawalpindi right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan is 94, 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 94. 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 21 µg/m³, 1.4 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 22 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 35 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 24 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: carbon monoxide 427 µg/m³.
Rawalpindi AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 90 around Tue 2:00 am to 94 around Mon 5:00 am, staying "Moderate" throughout.
The following day looks similar, averaging about 95.
| Local time (Asia/Karachi) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 5:00 am | 94 | Moderate | 20.6 | 22 | 35 |
| Mon 8:00 am | 93 | Moderate | 32.2 | 33 | 15 |
| Mon 11:00 am | 94 | Moderate | 15.8 | 20 | 116 |
| Mon 2:00 pm | 93 | Moderate | 12.8 | 17 | 137 |
| Mon 5:00 pm | 92 | Moderate | 28.5 | 32 | 49 |
| Mon 8:00 pm | 93 | Moderate | 57.3 | 61 | 6 |
| Mon 11:00 pm | 92 | Moderate | 48.4 | 51 | 4 |
| Tue 2:00 am | 90 | Moderate | 32.6 | 34 | 19 |
| Tue 5:00 am | 91 | Moderate | 23.6 | 25 | 25 |
| Tue 8:00 am | 91 | Moderate | 36.9 | 38 | 12 |
| Tue 11:00 am | 92 | Moderate | 17.2 | 21 | 115 |
| Tue 2:00 pm | 93 | Moderate | 13.1 | 17 | 137 |
| Tue 5:00 pm | 93 | Moderate | 35.7 | 39 | 26 |
| Tue 8:00 pm | 96 | Moderate | 75.7 | 79 | 5 |
| Tue 11:00 pm | 99 | Moderate | 53.3 | 55 | 3 |
| Wed 2:00 am | 100 | Moderate | 30.5 | 32 | 16 |
| Wed 5:00 am | 99 | Moderate | 20.3 | 21 | 33 |
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 Rawalpindi today
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 4:00 pm (AQI 92, Moderate) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 94). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.
Rawalpindi vs the rest of Pakistan
Across 50 Pakistan cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 119 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Rawalpindi at 94 is 25 points cleaner than average.
It ranks 11 of 50 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Battagram (56) and the most polluted Chak Jhumra (158).
For context, the median across 3,556 cities worldwide is 58.
Air quality in cities near Rawalpindi
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Islamabad | 14 km | 95 | Moderate | 18.4 |
| Muzaffarābād | 94 km | 64 | Moderate | 18.3 |
| Mardan | 114 km | 151 | Unhealthy | 53.4 |
| Battagram | 120 km | 56 | Moderate | 6.7 |
| Peshawar | 143 km | 131 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 31.9 |
| Mingora | 146 km | 58 | Moderate | 11.4 |
| Gujrat | 149 km | 112 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 64 |
| Soyībug | 162 km | 130 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 58.7 |
Model vs measured
The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 55 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 3 sensors), centred about 11 km from the city centre. That is 34.8 µg/m³ above the model estimate of 21 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 57 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 168 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 33 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 94, 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 Rawalpindi
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community, NASA FIRMS.