Air quality
Air quality in Solwezi 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, 8:00 pm (18:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Solwezi, North-Western, Zambia, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 89 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 17 µg/m³ 1.1× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 17 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 106 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- ozone sub-index 89
- Best hour tomorrow
- 3:00 pm AQI 62
- European AQI
- 46
Air quality in Solwezi right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Solwezi, North-Western, Zambia 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 ozone, whose own sub-index is 89. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.
PM2.5 is 17 µg/m³, 1.1 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 17 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 106 µg/m³ (above the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 2.7 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: carbon monoxide 328 µg/m³.
NASA FIRMS shows 850 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 10 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.
Solwezi AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 62 around Mon 3:00 pm to 89 around Sun 8:00 pm, staying "Moderate" throughout.
The following day looks similar, averaging about 70.
| Local time (Africa/Lusaka) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 8:00 pm | 89 | Moderate | 16.8 | 17 | 106 |
| Sun 11:00 pm | 66 | Moderate | 15.6 | 16 | 95 |
| Mon 2:00 am | 65 | Moderate | 14.5 | 15 | 85 |
| Mon 5:00 am | 65 | Moderate | 16.8 | 18 | 91 |
| Mon 8:00 am | 66 | Moderate | 16.1 | 17 | 91 |
| Mon 11:00 am | 65 | Moderate | 13.3 | 14 | 111 |
| Mon 2:00 pm | 63 | Moderate | 15.5 | 17 | 124 |
| Mon 5:00 pm | 64 | Moderate | 15.9 | 17 | 126 |
| Mon 8:00 pm | 73 | Moderate | 19 | 20 | 104 |
| Mon 11:00 pm | 63 | Moderate | 21.2 | 22 | 95 |
| Tue 2:00 am | 65 | Moderate | 20.7 | 22 | 88 |
| Tue 5:00 am | 66 | Moderate | 21.1 | 22 | 78 |
| Tue 8:00 am | 67 | Moderate | 21.7 | 23 | 100 |
| Tue 11:00 am | 69 | Moderate | 22.7 | 24 | 131 |
| Tue 2:00 pm | 70 | Moderate | 19.4 | 21 | 129 |
| Tue 5:00 pm | 82 | Moderate | 18 | 19 | 125 |
| Tue 8:00 pm | 79 | Moderate | 20.5 | 22 | 99 |
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 Solwezi tomorrow
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air tomorrow is forecast around 3:00 pm (AQI 62, Moderate) and the worst around 7:00 pm (AQI 73). That is a swing of 11 points, so a run or walk around 3:00 pm is noticeably better.
Solwezi vs the rest of Zambia
Across 6 Zambia cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 65 (Moderate). Solwezi at 89 is 24 points worse than average.
It ranks 6 of 6 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Chipata (41) and the most polluted Solwezi (89).
For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.
Air quality in cities near Solwezi
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lubumbashi | 131 km | 84 | Moderate | 17.6 |
| Likasi | 137 km | 97 | Moderate | 23.2 |
| Kolwezi | 190 km | 93 | Moderate | 23.6 |
| Kitwe | 210 km | 70 | Moderate | 15.4 |
| Ndola | 259 km | 68 | Moderate | 15.7 |
| Kabwe | 337 km | 63 | Moderate | 15.4 |
Model vs measured
We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Solwezi, 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
At 89, most people are fine outdoors. If you are unusually sensitive to ozone, 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 Solwezi
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.