Arizona air quality

Mescal, Arizona Air Quality

Cochise County31.990, -110.435

The nearest monitor to Mescal, at Fairgrounds, 20 miles away, measured an index of 32 at Wed, 11:00 AM MST, which is Good for ground-level ozone. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality forecasts Good for Tucson today and Good tomorrow.

Measured now
32 · Good
Today
35 · Good
Tomorrow
38 · Good
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Mescal, Arizona 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 Mescal right now. All Arizona warnings.

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Fairgrounds, 20 miles away (site 040191020)
Index measured
32 · Good
Measured at
Wed, 11:00 AM MST
Ozone
37 ppb
Reporting area
Tucson, AZ, 33 miles away
Reported by
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Area index
35 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's own forecast for Tucson, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayGood35Ozone
TomorrowGood38Ozone
Friday, September 25Good40Ozone
Saturday, September 26Good43Ozone
Sunday, September 27Good42Ozone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Arizona Department of Environmental Quality for Tucson and filed with AirNow.

Thick cloud cover overspreads southeastern Arizona this morning as a low-pressure disturbance passes northward through the AZ/NM border region. Another disturbance is looking to move through southern Arizona tomorrow, as well. Therefore, scattered storms/showers are expected both days. Gusts from nearby storms could cause pockets of dust for drier areas, but rain will help to reduce dust levels. Conditions then look to dry out for the weekend. But dust levels should remain low because of this week's rain.

Ozone levels should also remain low throughout the period. Cloud cover will reduce ozone (ozone needs sunlight to form). We are also entering in the time of year when average ozone levels are well in the Good AQI category.

Check back tomorrow for more.

M. Graves

Last Update: Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 8:05 AM

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 41, Good, around Fri, 5:00 PM MST, from the run issued Wed, 5:00 AM MST. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Wed, 7:00 AM MST16Good2.6
Wed, 8:00 AM MST17Good3.4
Wed, 9:00 AM MST18Good3.5
Wed, 10:00 AM MST16Good2.3
Wed, 11:00 AM MST15Good2.3
Wed, 12:00 PM MST11Good1.3
Wed, 1:00 PM MST30Good1.333
Wed, 2:00 PM MST31Good0.934.8
Wed, 3:00 PM MST33Good1.436.2
Wed, 4:00 PM MST34Good1.337.5
Wed, 5:00 PM MST35Good1.538.8
Wed, 6:00 PM MST36Good1.339.3
Wed, 7:00 PM MST35Good138.8
Wed, 8:00 PM MST34Good1.337.5
Wed, 9:00 PM MST32Good2.235.9
Wed, 10:00 PM MST31Good2.234.7
Wed, 11:00 PM MST31Good2.333.5
Thu, 12:00 AM MST30Good1.832.3
Thu, 1:00 AM MST29Good2.231.2
Thu, 2:00 AM MST28Good1.730.4
Thu, 3:00 AM MST28Good1.330
Thu, 4:00 AM MST28Good1.330.5
Thu, 5:00 AM MST28Good2.431
Thu, 6:00 AM MST29Good231
Thu, 7:00 AM MST29Good1.831.2
Thu, 8:00 AM MST29Good2.831.4
Thu, 9:00 AM MST29Good3.131.5
Thu, 10:00 AM MST30Good2.432
Thu, 11:00 AM MST31Good2.933.2
Thu, 12:00 PM MST31Good2.434.4
Thu, 1:00 PM MST32Good2.435.8
Thu, 2:00 PM MST34Good1.637.1
Thu, 3:00 PM MST35Good1.838.2
Thu, 4:00 PM MST36Good1.339.1
Thu, 5:00 PM MST37Good0.940.1
Thu, 6:00 PM MST37Good0.640.9
Thu, 7:00 PM MST37Good0.540.8
Thu, 8:00 PM MST37Good0.840
Thu, 9:00 PM MST36Good1.739
Thu, 10:00 PM MST35Good2.138.4
Thu, 11:00 PM MST34Good2.537.8
Fri, 12:00 AM MST34Good2.737.5
Fri, 1:00 AM MST33Good2.936.9
Fri, 2:00 AM MST33Good2.736.1
Fri, 3:00 AM MST32Good1.735.4
Fri, 4:00 AM MST32Good1.435.2
Fri, 5:00 AM MST31Good1.935
Fri, 6:00 AM MST31Good234.8
Fri, 7:00 AM MST31Good2.134.8
Fri, 8:00 AM MST32Good335.1
Fri, 9:00 AM MST32Good2.935.4
Fri, 10:00 AM MST33Good2.536.1
Fri, 11:00 AM MST34Good2.637.2
Fri, 12:00 PM MST35Good238.7
Fri, 1:00 PM MST37Good2.140.4
Fri, 2:00 PM MST38Good1.741.8
Fri, 3:00 PM MST39Good1.542.9
Fri, 4:00 PM MST40Good1.543.6
Fri, 5:00 PM MST41Good144.1
Fri, 6:00 PM MST41Good1.244.3
Fri, 7:00 PM MST40Good0.943.4
Fri, 8:00 PM MST38Good0.941.8
Fri, 9:00 PM MST36Good239.7
Fri, 10:00 PM MST34Good2.937.5
Fri, 11:00 PM MST32Good2.735.2
Sat, 12:00 AM MST31Good233.1
Sat, 1:00 AM MST28Good2.331
Sat, 2:00 AM MST26Good2.428.8
Sat, 3:00 AM MST25Good227.1
Sat, 4:00 AM MST23Good2.625.9
Sat, 5:00 AM MST22Good3.524.8

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 analysts have not drawn smoke over Mescal in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.1 µg/m³ around Tue, 8:00 PM MST.

Smoke on the radar over Mescal

What this means

Good

Air quality is satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.

Who is affected
Nobody is expected to be affected.
What to do
It is a good day to be outside.
Index range
0 to 50

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 MescalWarnings in Cochise CountyLive radar over MescalArizona 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.