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Air Quality Index (AQI) Forecast and Current Observations for New York State

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Get today’s Air Quality Index (AQI) forecast for New York State here.

Air Quality Forecast

The AQI is a scale used for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI correlates levels of different pollutants to one scale. The higher the AQI value, the greater the health concern. An Air Quality Health Advisory is issued to alert sensitive groups to take necessary precautions when ozone and/or fine particle levels are expected to exceed an AQI value of 100.

The air quality forecast page displays the predicted maximum AQI value for eight Air Quality Health Advisory regions in the State. It also displays the observed maximum values for the previous day. The counties in each of our Air Quality Health Advisory regions are:

• Region I Long Island – Nassau and Suffolk
• Region II New York City Metro – New York City, Rockland, and Westchester
• Region III Lower Hudson – Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Ulster, and Sullivan
• Region IV Upper Hudson – Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, and Washington
• Region V Adirondacks – Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, northern Herkimer, Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Warren
• Region VI Eastern Lake Ontario – northern Cayuga, Jefferson, Monroe, Oswego, and Wayne
• Region VII Central – Allegany, Broome, southern Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, southern Herkimer, Livingston, Madison, Onondaga, Oneida, Ontario, Otsego, Tioga, Tompkins, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, and Yates
• Region VIII Western New York – Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming

Air Quality Monitoring

DEC has a statewide continuous monitoring network. Air quality measurements are updated hourly, where available. Pollutants monitored include:

• ozone,
• fine particulates,
• carbon monoxide,
• sulfur dioxide,
• nitrogen oxides,
• methane/non-methane hydrocarbons, and
• meteorological data.

Preliminary data can be queried for many sites within the network. Click “Reports” and “Multi Station Report” in the left-hand column on the Air Monitoring website.

Preliminary data warning: Data displayed on these pages are preliminary and subject to change. The time displayed is Eastern Standard Time. For validated data, contact the Bureau of Air Quality Surveillance at (518) 402-8508 or go to EPA’s Air Data webpage (leaves DEC website).