Alabama air quality

Vandiver, Alabama Air Quality

Shelby County33.471, -86.513

The nearest monitor to Vandiver, at LEEDS, 6 miles away, measured an index of 54 at Sun, 2:00 PM CDT, which is Moderate for ground-level ozone. Alabama Department of Environmental Management forecasts Moderate for Birmingham today and Moderate tomorrow. NOAA’s analysts drew medium wildfire smoke over the town today.

Measured now
54 · Moderate
Today
64 · Moderate
Tomorrow
58 · Moderate
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Vandiver, Alabama. Open it for the live map, where it pans and zooms.

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Vandiver, Alabama Open the live map with the particulate forecast

Map layer from NOAA National Air Quality Forecast Capability. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

Alerts in force

An Air Quality Alert is issued by the National Weather Service on behalf of a state or local agency when pollution is expected to reach a level that harms health. An Air Stagnation Advisory means the air will not move enough to clear what is already in it.

None are in force near Vandiver right now. All Alabama warnings.

Now

Moderate

Nearest monitor
LEEDS, 6 miles away (site 010731010)
Index measured
54 · Moderate
Measured at
Sun, 2:00 PM CDT
Ozone
60 ppb
Reporting area
Birmingham, AL, 17 miles away
Reported by
Alabama Department of Environmental Management
Area index
77 · Moderate

Measured, not modeled. AirNow observations are preliminary until the operating agency certifies them, which happens months later.

Today and tomorrow

Alabama Department of Environmental Management's own forecast for Birmingham, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModerate64Ozone
TomorrowModerate58Ozone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Alabama Department of Environmental Management for Birmingham and filed with AirNow.

Saturday-Monday: Upper level ridging over the area will continue to break down. This will allow for a low chance for scattered afternoon through early evening storms each day. Temperatures will remain above normal in the mid to upper 90s. PM2.5 and Ozone are both expected to be in the yellow (moderate) range through Monday. ML

Hour by hour

NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability, bias-corrected against monitors, for this town’s own coordinate. The worst hour ahead is an index of 86, Moderate, around Mon, 8:00 AM CDT, from the run issued Sun, 7:00 AM CDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Sun, 9:00 AM CDT67Moderate14.1
Sun, 10:00 AM CDT63Moderate14.1
Sun, 11:00 AM CDT62Moderate14.4
Sun, 12:00 PM CDT62Moderate14.5
Sun, 1:00 PM CDT61Moderate14.6
Sun, 2:00 PM CDT62Moderate15.1
Sun, 3:00 PM CDT63Moderate15.943.2
Sun, 4:00 PM CDT64Moderate16.950.4
Sun, 5:00 PM CDT64Moderate15.856.3
Sun, 6:00 PM CDT64Moderate17.159.1
Sun, 7:00 PM CDT65Moderate16.959.5
Sun, 8:00 PM CDT66Moderate19.256.7
Sun, 9:00 PM CDT67Moderate18.852.4
Sun, 10:00 PM CDT67Moderate18.647.4
Sun, 11:00 PM CDT67Moderate1742.1
Mon, 12:00 AM CDT66Moderate1636.1
Mon, 1:00 AM CDT66Moderate16.329.2
Mon, 2:00 AM CDT67Moderate19.522.8
Mon, 3:00 AM CDT67Moderate17.917.9
Mon, 4:00 AM CDT67Moderate18.715.1
Mon, 5:00 AM CDT68Moderate18.412.9
Mon, 6:00 AM CDT68Moderate19.312.6
Mon, 7:00 AM CDT74Moderate26.511.6
Mon, 8:00 AM CDT86Moderate33.210.2
Mon, 9:00 AM CDT76Moderate17.611.3
Mon, 10:00 AM CDT70Moderate16.215.4
Mon, 11:00 AM CDT67Moderate16.320.4
Mon, 12:00 PM CDT66Moderate1626.3
Mon, 1:00 PM CDT64Moderate15.633.2
Mon, 2:00 PM CDT63Moderate15.538.7
Mon, 3:00 PM CDT63Moderate15.144.9
Mon, 4:00 PM CDT62Moderate14.251.6
Mon, 5:00 PM CDT59Moderate12.356.6
Mon, 6:00 PM CDT61Moderate14.158.2
Mon, 7:00 PM CDT60Moderate13.957.8
Mon, 8:00 PM CDT61Moderate16.154.7
Mon, 9:00 PM CDT62Moderate16.249.9
Mon, 10:00 PM CDT62Moderate15.444.6
Mon, 11:00 PM CDT61Moderate13.439.4
Tue, 12:00 AM CDT61Moderate12.933.8
Tue, 1:00 AM CDT60Moderate13.327.8
Tue, 2:00 AM CDT61Moderate1722.8
Tue, 3:00 AM CDT62Moderate15.118.8
Tue, 4:00 AM CDT63Moderate16.616.1
Tue, 5:00 AM CDT64Moderate17.814.4
Tue, 6:00 AM CDT64Moderate1614
Tue, 7:00 AM CDT67Moderate20.513.7
Tue, 8:00 AM CDT74Moderate24.713.3
Tue, 9:00 AM CDT65Moderate11.315
Tue, 10:00 AM CDT59Moderate10.518.2
Tue, 11:00 AM CDT58Moderate1222.5
Tue, 12:00 PM CDT56Moderate11.427.6
Tue, 1:00 PM CDT55Moderate10.233.5
Tue, 2:00 PM CDT54Moderate10.338.7
Tue, 3:00 PM CDT55Moderate12.143.8
Tue, 4:00 PM CDT56Moderate12.449.9
Tue, 5:00 PM CDT57Moderate12.554.5
Tue, 6:00 PM CDT58Moderate13.757
Tue, 7:00 PM CDT58Moderate12.657.2
Tue, 8:00 PM CDT59Moderate14.854.6
Tue, 9:00 PM CDT61Moderate16.150.3
Tue, 10:00 PM CDT62Moderate16.345.2
Tue, 11:00 PM CDT61Moderate13.539.9
Wed, 12:00 AM CDT59Moderate11.334.2
Wed, 1:00 AM CDT57Moderate1128.2
Wed, 2:00 AM CDT58Moderate13.322.9
Wed, 3:00 AM CDT58Moderate12.618.6
Wed, 4:00 AM CDT58Moderate12.716.6
Wed, 5:00 AM CDT57Moderate11.815.5
Wed, 6:00 AM CDT55Moderate9.516
Wed, 7:00 AM CDT57Moderate14.416.4

Fine particles in micrograms per cubic meter, ozone in parts per billion as an 8-hour average. The index for each hour is EPA’s: the ozone figure is already the 8-hour average the ozone index is defined on, and the particle figure is run through EPA’s NowCast, which is how an hourly PM2.5 concentration becomes an index.

Smoke

NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System analysts drew medium smoke over Vandiver in satellite imagery today (Sun, 7:00 AM CDT to Sun, 10:00 AM CDT). That is smoke seen from above; it is not always smoke at ground level.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.8 µg/m³ around Mon, 6:00 AM CDT.

Smoke on the radar over Vandiver

What this means

Moderate

Air quality is acceptable. There may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

Who is affected
People who are unusually sensitive to ozone or fine particles.
What to do
If you are unusually sensitive, consider making long or intense outdoor activity shorter or easier.
Index range
51 to 100

Category descriptions are the Environmental Protection Agency’s own.

What these numbers are. An index beside a monitor’s name is a measurement, published hourly by AirNow and preliminary until the operating agency certifies it. A category for today or tomorrow is a state or local agency forecaster’s own forecast for a reporting area. An hourly index is NOAA’s air quality model on a five-kilometer grid, not a reading from any instrument. Where a town has no monitor within reach, only the model figures appear, and the page says so.

Nearby

The nearest towns with a page of their own, closest first.

Weather forecast for VandiverWarnings in Shelby CountyLive radar over VandiverAlabama air quality

Sources

Observations and daily forecasts from AirNow, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s program with NOAA, the National Park Service, NASA, tribal, state and local agencies. Hourly forecasts from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability. Smoke analysis from NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System. Alerts from the National Weather Service. Index categories and breakpoints are EPA’s, as revised in 2024.