Illinois air quality

Lake in the Hills, Illinois Air Quality

McHenry County42.182, -88.330

The nearest monitor to Lake in the Hills, at CARY, 5 miles away, measured an index of 53 at Wed, 4:00 PM CDT, which is Moderate for fine particles (PM2.5). Illinois EPA forecasts Moderate for North and West Suburbs (Chicago) today and Moderate tomorrow.

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

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Lake in the Hills, Illinois 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 Lake in the Hills right now. All Illinois warnings.

Now

Moderate

Nearest monitor
CARY, 5 miles away (site 171110001)
Index measured
53 · Moderate
Measured at
Wed, 4:00 PM CDT
Fine particles
9.1 µg/m³
Ozone
34 ppb
Reporting area
North and West Suburbs (Chicago), IL, 4 miles away
Reported by
Illinois EPA
Area index
60 · Moderate

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

Today and tomorrow

Illinois EPA's own forecast for North and West Suburbs (Chicago), written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModeratePM2.5
TomorrowModeratePM2.5
Friday, October 2GoodPM2.5

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 69, Moderate, around Wed, 9:00 PM CDT, from the run issued Wed, 7:00 AM CDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Wed, 5:00 PM CDT61Moderate16.836.9
Wed, 6:00 PM CDT64Moderate1837
Wed, 7:00 PM CDT64Moderate16.537.6
Wed, 8:00 PM CDT65Moderate16.937.9
Wed, 9:00 PM CDT69Moderate20.838.4
Wed, 10:00 PM CDT69Moderate18.338.5
Wed, 11:00 PM CDT66Moderate16.237.8
Thu, 12:00 AM CDT65Moderate15.536.4
Thu, 1:00 AM CDT64Moderate15.734.9
Thu, 2:00 AM CDT64Moderate15.634.3
Thu, 3:00 AM CDT63Moderate14.133.4
Thu, 4:00 AM CDT60Moderate12.132.8
Thu, 5:00 AM CDT57Moderate10.831.5
Thu, 6:00 AM CDT55Moderate10.830.5
Thu, 7:00 AM CDT57Moderate12.829.8
Thu, 8:00 AM CDT61Moderate17.229.5
Thu, 9:00 AM CDT62Moderate16.529
Thu, 10:00 AM CDT61Moderate14.228.2
Thu, 11:00 AM CDT59Moderate10.727.9
Thu, 12:00 PM CDT53Moderate7.928
Thu, 1:00 PM CDT45Good5.928.6
Thu, 2:00 PM CDT43Good7.329.5
Thu, 3:00 PM CDT43Good7.730.4
Thu, 4:00 PM CDT39Good6.531.4
Thu, 5:00 PM CDT40Good7.433
Thu, 6:00 PM CDT39Good6.734.1
Thu, 7:00 PM CDT38Good6.834.9
Thu, 8:00 PM CDT42Good8.334.4
Thu, 9:00 PM CDT48Good1033.1
Thu, 10:00 PM CDT32Good331.5
Thu, 11:00 PM CDT27Good1.129.4
Fri, 12:00 AM CDT25Good1.327.3
Fri, 1:00 AM CDT23Good125
Fri, 2:00 AM CDT21Good1.223.4
Fri, 3:00 AM CDT19Good1.621.9
Fri, 4:00 AM CDT19Good221.2
Fri, 5:00 AM CDT19Good1.721
Fri, 6:00 AM CDT19Good0.820.7
Fri, 7:00 AM CDT19Good0.820.4
Fri, 8:00 AM CDT19Good0.920.4
Fri, 9:00 AM CDT19Good0.820.2
Fri, 10:00 AM CDT18Good0.319.8
Fri, 11:00 AM CDT19Good0.920
Fri, 12:00 PM CDT19Good0.821.1
Fri, 1:00 PM CDT20Good0.622.5
Fri, 2:00 PM CDT21Good1.323.9
Fri, 3:00 PM CDT24Good0.526.1
Fri, 4:00 PM CDT26Good0.928.7
Fri, 5:00 PM CDT29Good2.631.6
Fri, 6:00 PM CDT31Good5.533.6
Fri, 7:00 PM CDT32Good7.934
Fri, 8:00 PM CDT38Good8.132.7
Fri, 9:00 PM CDT37Good6.330.9
Fri, 10:00 PM CDT36Good6.328.8
Fri, 11:00 PM CDT32Good5.226.3
Sat, 12:00 AM CDT31Good5.323.1
Sat, 1:00 AM CDT29Good5.119.7
Sat, 2:00 AM CDT28Good4.917.3
Sat, 3:00 AM CDT25Good415.7
Sat, 4:00 AM CDT19Good2.614.9
Sat, 5:00 AM CDT14Good1.614.4
Sat, 6:00 AM CDT12Good1.213.8
Sat, 7:00 AM CDT12Good1.113.1

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 Lake in the Hills in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.7 µg/m³ around Wed, 10:00 PM CDT.

Smoke on the radar over Lake in the Hills

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 Lake in the HillsWarnings in McHenry CountyLive radar over Lake in the HillsIllinois 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.