California air quality

Day Valley, California Air Quality

Santa Cruz County37.036, -121.862

The nearest monitor to Day Valley, at Santa Cruz AMS, 8 miles away, measured an index of 30 at Sun, 9:00 AM PDT, which is Good for fine particles (PM2.5). Monterey Bay Unified APCD forecasts Moderate for Santa Cruz today and Good tomorrow.

Measured now
30 · Good
Today
53 · Moderate
Tomorrow
— · Good
Pollutant
PM2.5

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Day Valley, California 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 Day Valley right now. All California warnings.

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Santa Cruz AMS, 8 miles away (site 060870007)
Index measured
30 · Good
Measured at
Sun, 9:00 AM PDT
Fine particles
4 µg/m³
Ozone
20 ppb
Reporting area
Santa Cruz, CA, 8 miles away
Reported by
Monterey Bay Unified APCD
Area index
30 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

Monterey Bay Unified APCD's own forecast for Santa Cruz, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModerate53PM2.5
TomorrowGoodOzone
Tuesday, September 22GoodOzone
Wednesday, September 23GoodOzone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Monterey Bay Unified APCD for Santa Cruz and filed with AirNow.

September 18 – September 22: As the cutoff low-pressure system over the region moves eastward towards the Basin and Range on Friday, expect high-pressure to build over the weekend. This will be short lived however, as the weekend ridge will be quickly replaced by an early week trough. As the ridge moves through the area, expect a slight warm up for the Central Coast and a shift to offshore breezes as inland temperatures increase. Offshore winds should keep the marine layer at bay, which will help amplify the warmer temperatures inland. Temperatures will range from the low-50s to the high-70s at the coast and high-40s to low-90s inland. Despite the increase in temperatures inland, ozone production will be at normal levels; therefore, ozone AQIs will remain GOOD. As high-pressure builds, expect a decrease in atmospheric mixing. As a result, PM2.5 (smoke) AQIs may reach MODERATE levels. 20 mph wind speeds with up to 35 mph gusts in the Salinas Valley could bring PM10 (dust) AQIs to MODERATE.

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 53, Moderate, around Sun, 6:00 PM PDT, from the run issued Sun, 5:00 AM PDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Sun, 7:00 AM PDT37Good6.1
Sun, 8:00 AM PDT38Good7
Sun, 9:00 AM PDT41Good8.2
Sun, 10:00 AM PDT44Good8.8
Sun, 11:00 AM PDT45Good8.6
Sun, 12:00 PM PDT48Good9.4
Sun, 1:00 PM PDT50Good9.718.8
Sun, 2:00 PM PDT52Moderate1020.9
Sun, 3:00 PM PDT52Moderate10.623.9
Sun, 4:00 PM PDT52Moderate9.626.7
Sun, 5:00 PM PDT52Moderate1029.3
Sun, 6:00 PM PDT53Moderate10.831.3
Sun, 7:00 PM PDT53Moderate10.632.6
Sun, 8:00 PM PDT53Moderate9.832.9
Sun, 9:00 PM PDT53Moderate1032.8
Sun, 10:00 PM PDT53Moderate10.231.8
Sun, 11:00 PM PDT53Moderate10.130.1
Mon, 12:00 AM PDT52Moderate928.3
Mon, 1:00 AM PDT52Moderate9.626.4
Mon, 2:00 AM PDT52Moderate9.124.8
Mon, 3:00 AM PDT51Moderate8.123.4
Mon, 4:00 AM PDT47Good7.222.2
Mon, 5:00 AM PDT42Good6.421
Mon, 6:00 AM PDT37Good5.919.3
Mon, 7:00 AM PDT37Good6.818.1
Mon, 8:00 AM PDT39Good7.717.4
Mon, 9:00 AM PDT39Good6.917.4
Mon, 10:00 AM PDT42Good8.318.2
Mon, 11:00 AM PDT43Good8.419.4
Mon, 12:00 PM PDT45Good8.721.1
Mon, 1:00 PM PDT47Good9.423.3
Mon, 2:00 PM PDT48Good8.826.3
Mon, 3:00 PM PDT48Good8.929.1
Mon, 4:00 PM PDT47Good8.231.5
Mon, 5:00 PM PDT44Good7.333
Mon, 6:00 PM PDT46Good8.833.6
Mon, 7:00 PM PDT46Good7.933.9
Mon, 8:00 PM PDT45Good7.933.7
Mon, 9:00 PM PDT44Good7.233.2
Mon, 10:00 PM PDT42Good6.932.6
Mon, 11:00 PM PDT42Good7.531.6
Tue, 12:00 AM PDT39Good6.431
Tue, 1:00 AM PDT36Good5.730.8
Tue, 2:00 AM PDT35Good630.8
Tue, 3:00 AM PDT35Good6.430.9
Tue, 4:00 AM PDT33Good5.630.8
Tue, 5:00 AM PDT33Good5.830.6
Tue, 6:00 AM PDT27Good3.629.8
Tue, 7:00 AM PDT27Good5.229.3
Tue, 8:00 AM PDT29Good5.828.9
Tue, 9:00 AM PDT32Good6.228.4
Tue, 10:00 AM PDT33Good6.428
Tue, 11:00 AM PDT34Good6.327.7
Tue, 12:00 PM PDT38Good7.427.7
Tue, 1:00 PM PDT39Good7.428.2
Tue, 2:00 PM PDT41Good7.629.6
Tue, 3:00 PM PDT42Good7.731.1
Tue, 4:00 PM PDT41Good7.432.4
Tue, 5:00 PM PDT42Good7.933.6
Tue, 6:00 PM PDT45Good8.934.4
Tue, 7:00 PM PDT44Good8.335
Tue, 8:00 PM PDT43Good7.635
Tue, 9:00 PM PDT44Good8.234.7
Tue, 10:00 PM PDT46Good933.8
Tue, 11:00 PM PDT45Good8.232.5
Wed, 12:00 AM PDT44Good7.231.4
Wed, 1:00 AM PDT42Good6.630.3
Wed, 2:00 AM PDT41Good6.929.3
Wed, 3:00 AM PDT41Good7.228.3
Wed, 4:00 AM PDT40Good6.827.4
Wed, 5:00 AM PDT39Good6.726.4

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 analysts have not drawn smoke over Day Valley in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 1.1 µg/m³ around Mon, 2:00 AM PDT.

Smoke on the radar over Day Valley

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 Day ValleyWarnings in Santa Cruz CountyLive radar over Day ValleyCalifornia 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.