District of Columbia Air Quality

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 in District of Columbia right now. All District of Columbia warnings.

Every AirNow reporting area in District of Columbia: what its monitors measured this hour, and what the state or local agency that forecasts for it expects today and tomorrow. Each area links to the nearest town’s page.

Where NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System analysts have drawn wildfire smoke over District of Columbia in today’s satellite imagery. Smoke drawn overhead is not always smoke at ground level; each town’s page carries the near-surface forecast.

• Light Washington, Downtown DC, Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, Central 14th Street / Spring Road, Northwest One, Dupont Circle, Foggy Bottom, Mount Vernon Triangle, H Street NE, Pleasant Plains, NoMa, Petworth, Capitol Riverfront, Park View, Golden Triangle and 37 more

Smoke on the radar over District of Columbia

The index runs from 0 to 500. Good is 0 to 50, Moderate to 100, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups to 150, Unhealthy to 200, Very Unhealthy to 300, and Hazardous above that. The figure reported for a place is the highest index among the pollutants measured there, and the pollutant that produced it is named beside it.

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.

Air quality for any town in District of Columbia: what is measured nearby, the category forecast for today and tomorrow, and NOAA’s model hour by hour. Largest first.

• Washington689,545 people
• Downtown DC52,560 people
• Columbia Heights38,000 people
• Mount Pleasant35,842 people
• Central 14th Street / Spring Road25,899 people
• Northwest One23,386 people
• Dupont Circle23,226 people
• Foggy Bottom22,146 people
• Mount Vernon Triangle21,897 people
• H Street NE21,480 people
• Pleasant Plains21,174 people
• NoMa20,700 people
• Petworth18,983 people
• Capitol Riverfront18,874 people
• Park View18,796 people
• Golden Triangle17,674 people
• Shaw17,639 people
• Brightwood17,624 people
• Adams Morgan15,830 people
• Kennedy Street15,251 people
• Southwest Waterfront15,129 people
• Capitol Hill15,056 people
• Barracks Row14,080 people
• Union Market12,186 people
• Georgetown11,887 people
• Anacostia11,789 people
• Colorado Triangle11,780 people
• Brentwood Village11,359 people
• The Wharf11,274 people
• Central 14th Street / WMATA Northern Bus Barn11,147 people
• Van Ness10,745 people
• Benning Road10,269 people
• Hillcrest10,205 people
• Deanwood9,895 people
• Woodley Park9,856 people
• Cleveland Park9,790 people
• Bellevue9,643 people
• Chevy Chase9,545 people
• Riggs Park9,125 people
• Benning8,978 people
• Lincoln Heights8,858 people
• Brookland8,259 people
• The Parks At Walter Reed8,252 people
• Congress Heights8,180 people
• Glover Park8,124 people
• Georgia Avenue / Walter Reed7,996 people
• Kenilworth7,679 people
• Capitol Gateway7,374 people
• Woodridge6,671 people
• Fort Lincoln6,367 people
• Tenleytown5,684 people
• Ivy City5,264 people
• Pennsylvania Avenue SE5,151 people
• Bloomingdale4,980 people
• Barry Farms4,129 people

Smaller places have pages too; search for one on the air quality landing page.

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.