Air quality

Air quality in Yichang today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 118) 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, 10:00 am (02:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Yichang, Hubei, China, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
118 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
41 µg/m³ 2.8× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
45 µg/m³
Ozone
66 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 118
Best hour today
11:00 am AQI 117
European AQI
55

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Air quality in Yichang right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Yichang, Hubei, China is 118, 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 118. 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 41 µg/m³, 2.8 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 45 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 66 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 17 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: UV index 1.5, carbon monoxide 680 µg/m³.

Yichang AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 117 around Mon 11:00 am to 150 around Tue 3:00 am, staying "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" throughout.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 112 against 135 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Shanghai)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 10:00 am118Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups41.44566
Mon 1:00 pm119Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.54891
Mon 4:00 pm123Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups44.54868
Mon 7:00 pm130Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups63.16621
Mon 10:00 pm138Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups75.4785
Tue 1:00 am145Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups74.5766
Tue 4:00 am150Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups47.14914
Tue 7:00 am147Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups29.73520
Tue 10:00 am140Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups22.63237
Tue 1:00 pm134Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups20.63570
Tue 4:00 pm127Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups21.53572
Tue 7:00 pm119Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups354835
Tue 10:00 pm110Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups40.75214
Wed 1:00 am99Moderate37.44821
Wed 4:00 am92Moderate41.65537
Wed 7:00 am93Moderate45.65640
Wed 10:00 am98Moderate44.55251

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 Yichang today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 11:00 am (AQI 117, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 9:00 pm (AQI 135). That is a swing of 18 points, so a run or walk around 11:00 am is noticeably better.

Yichang vs the rest of China

Across 467 China cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 86 (Moderate). Yichang at 118 is 32 points worse than average.

It ranks 407 of 467 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Hulunbuir (19) and the most polluted Artux (223).

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

Air quality in cities near Yichang

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Zhijiang55 km116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups44.9
Jingmen95 km96Moderate49.6
Jingzhou96 km99Moderate40.7
Buhe102 km99Moderate40.7
Zhongxiang134 km96Moderate49.6
Xiangyang169 km146Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups76.8
Enshi179 km72Moderate30.6
Changde191 km116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups33.1

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Yichang, 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 76 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 14 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 140 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 118, 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 Yichang

Air quality elsewhere

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