Air quality
Air quality in Zürich today
Updated
Good (US AQI 27) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 1:00 am (00:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 27 Good
- PM2.5
- 3.3 µg/m³ 0.2× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 5.5 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 51 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- ozone sub-index 27
- Best hour today
- 10:00 am AQI 20
- European AQI
- 17
Air quality in Zürich right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland is 27, which falls in the "Good" band (up to 50). Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.
The index is driven mainly by ozone, whose own sub-index is 27. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.
PM2.5 is 3.3 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 5.5 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 51 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 4.3 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: carbon monoxide 139 µg/m³.
NASA FIRMS shows 19 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 215 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.
Zürich AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 20 around Mon 10:00 am to 37 around Tue 1:00 am, staying "Good" throughout.
The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 49 against 25 for the next 24 hours.
| Local time (Europe/Zurich) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 1:00 am | 27 | Good | 3.3 | 6 | 51 |
| Mon 4:00 am | 25 | Good | 3.7 | 6 | 50 |
| Mon 7:00 am | 23 | Good | 5.9 | 11 | 37 |
| Mon 10:00 am | 20 | Good | 5.7 | 16 | 46 |
| Mon 1:00 pm | 21 | Good | 5.1 | 12 | 61 |
| Mon 4:00 pm | 24 | Good | 7.2 | 13 | 64 |
| Mon 7:00 pm | 28 | Good | 8.6 | 19 | 42 |
| Mon 10:00 pm | 32 | Good | 10.4 | 18 | 30 |
| Tue 1:00 am | 37 | Good | 11.3 | 18 | 25 |
| Tue 4:00 am | 43 | Good | 11.5 | 15 | 22 |
| Tue 7:00 am | 47 | Good | 9.8 | 16 | 16 |
| Tue 10:00 am | 50 | Good | 9.3 | 16 | 36 |
| Tue 1:00 pm | 51 | Moderate | 7.1 | 14 | 52 |
| Tue 4:00 pm | 51 | Moderate | 9.2 | 17 | 57 |
| Tue 7:00 pm | 52 | Moderate | 12.7 | 21 | 26 |
| Tue 10:00 pm | 53 | Moderate | 14.3 | 20 | 27 |
| Wed 1:00 am | 54 | Moderate | 14.7 | 18 | 22 |
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 Zürich today
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 10:00 am (AQI 20, Good) and the worst around 9:00 pm (AQI 30). That is a swing of 10 points, so a run or walk around 10:00 am is noticeably better.
Air quality in cities near Zürich
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuttgart | 164 km | 30 | Good | 3.7 |
| Monza | 206 km | 67 | Moderate | 16.5 |
| Augsburg | 208 km | 30 | Good | 3.1 |
| Milan | 217 km | 67 | Moderate | 16.5 |
| Ludwigshafen am Rhein | 235 km | 29 | Good | 3.9 |
| Mannheim | 236 km | 29 | Good | 3.9 |
| Munich | 242 km | 29 | Good | 3 |
| Turin | 264 km | 67 | Moderate | 32 |
Model vs measured
The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 1.3 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 67 sensors), centred about 17 km from the city centre. That is close to the model estimate of 3.3 µg/m³. Low-cost sensors can read high in humid air; reference monitors are more accurate but sparser.
Advice for sensitive groups
With the AQI at 27, there is no need for sensitive groups to change plans. People with asthma should still carry their reliever inhaler as usual.
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 Zürich
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community, NASA FIRMS.