Air quality

Air quality in Sahiwal today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 114) 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, 5:00 am (00:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
114 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
42 µg/m³ 2.8× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
49 µg/m³
Ozone
47 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 114
Best hour today
6:00 am AQI 114
European AQI
55

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Air quality in Sahiwal right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan is 114, 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 114. 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 42 µg/m³, 2.8 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 49 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 47 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 447 µg/m³.

Sahiwal AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 114 around Mon 5:00 am to 128 around Mon 8:00 pm, staying "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" throughout.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 117 against 122 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Karachi)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 5:00 am114Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups42.14947
Mon 8:00 am116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups49.95541
Mon 11:00 am119Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups2433128
Mon 2:00 pm123Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups22.932132
Mon 5:00 pm126Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups32.53987
Mon 8:00 pm128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups67.37541
Mon 11:00 pm127Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups73.37931
Tue 2:00 am123Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.45047
Tue 5:00 am122Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups38.84345
Tue 8:00 am121Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups47.35142
Tue 11:00 am120Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups23.430130
Tue 2:00 pm120Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups18.927130
Tue 5:00 pm119Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups28.93579
Tue 8:00 pm117Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups60.56636
Tue 11:00 pm113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups55.16033
Wed 2:00 am109Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups34.93841
Wed 5:00 am106Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups30.73342

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 Sahiwal today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 6:00 am (AQI 114, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 8:00 pm (AQI 128). That is a swing of 14 points, so a run or walk around 6:00 am is noticeably better.

Sahiwal vs the rest of Pakistan

Across 50 Pakistan cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 119 (Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups). Sahiwal at 114 is 5 points cleaner than average.

It ranks 17 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 Sahiwal

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Sargodha35 km150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups60.1
Bhawana54 km141Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups65.2
Chiniot67 km141Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups65.2
Jhang Sadr78 km153Unhealthy85.4
Pindi Bhattian89 km154Unhealthy74
Chak Jhumra92 km158Unhealthy80.6
Faisalabad95 km158Unhealthy80.6
Bhakkar126 km124Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups56

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Sahiwal, 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 78 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 432 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 21 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 114, 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 Sahiwal

Air quality elsewhere

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