Louisiana air quality

Starks, Louisiana Air Quality

Calcasieu Parish30.316, -93.662

The nearest monitor to Starks, at Vinton, 8 miles away, measured an index of 53 at Wed, 5:00 AM CDT, which is Moderate for fine particles (PM2.5). Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality forecasts Moderate for Lake Charles today and Good tomorrow.

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

Fine particles on the map

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

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

Now

Moderate

Nearest monitor
Vinton, 8 miles away (site 220190009)
Index measured
53 · Moderate
Measured at
Wed, 5:00 AM CDT
Fine particles
10.5 µg/m³
Ozone
7 ppb
Reporting area
Lake Charles, LA, 8 miles away
Reported by
Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Area index
54 · Moderate

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

Today and tomorrow

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

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModerate53PM2.5
TomorrowGood50PM2.5

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality for Lake Charles and filed with AirNow.

Tuesday, widely scattered showers and thunderstorms will aid atmospheric mixing during the afternoon and evening. However, periods of sun and highs in the mid- to upper-90s will continue to promote ozone formation. Additionally, light northeasterly winds will allow thin smoke to linger over the region. These conditions will yield high-Good to mid-Moderate AQI levels. Wednesday and Thursday, as a weak front departs to the south, increasing northeasterly winds will aid dispersion. However, these winds will also transport thin regional smoke into the state, keeping particle levels elevated. Furthermore, increasing sunshine and temperatures in the low- to mid-90s will be conducive to ozone development. Thus, AQI levels will range from high-Good to mid-Moderate on both days.

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 55, Moderate, around Fri, 8:00 PM CDT, from the run issued Wed, 1:00 AM CDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Wed, 3:00 AM CDT50Good9.4
Wed, 4:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.6
Wed, 5:00 AM CDT52Moderate9.7
Wed, 6:00 AM CDT51Moderate8.4
Wed, 7:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.2
Wed, 8:00 AM CDT51Moderate9
Wed, 9:00 AM CDT49Good7.717.1
Wed, 10:00 AM CDT49Good9.118.5
Wed, 11:00 AM CDT48Good8.420.4
Wed, 12:00 PM CDT48Good8.222.7
Wed, 1:00 PM CDT46Good7.725.3
Wed, 2:00 PM CDT43Good728.5
Wed, 3:00 PM CDT46Good9.332.1
Wed, 4:00 PM CDT46Good8.335.7
Wed, 5:00 PM CDT51Moderate10.738.5
Wed, 6:00 PM CDT49Good8.240.1
Wed, 7:00 PM CDT47Good7.940.6
Wed, 8:00 PM CDT52Moderate11.140.5
Wed, 9:00 PM CDT45Good6.239.3
Wed, 10:00 PM CDT46Good8.537.3
Wed, 11:00 PM CDT46Good8.234.5
Thu, 12:00 AM CDT48Good9.531.1
Thu, 1:00 AM CDT51Moderate9.527.4
Thu, 2:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.623.2
Thu, 3:00 AM CDT52Moderate1020.1
Thu, 4:00 AM CDT53Moderate1117.7
Thu, 5:00 AM CDT52Moderate9.116.5
Thu, 6:00 AM CDT50Good815.8
Thu, 7:00 AM CDT49Good8.715.5
Thu, 8:00 AM CDT45Good7.215.7
Thu, 9:00 AM CDT45Good7.716.6
Thu, 10:00 AM CDT48Good1019
Thu, 11:00 AM CDT51Moderate10.221.4
Thu, 12:00 PM CDT51Moderate9.624.1
Thu, 1:00 PM CDT51Moderate8.727.2
Thu, 2:00 PM CDT47Good7.430.4
Thu, 3:00 PM CDT49Good9.834
Thu, 4:00 PM CDT46Good6.937.8
Thu, 5:00 PM CDT48Good9.641.1
Thu, 6:00 PM CDT45Good6.943.5
Thu, 7:00 PM CDT44Good844.9
Thu, 8:00 PM CDT52Moderate1245.1
Thu, 9:00 PM CDT48Good7.544
Thu, 10:00 PM CDT48Good8.842.2
Thu, 11:00 PM CDT48Good8.739.9
Fri, 12:00 AM CDT48Good8.736.9
Fri, 1:00 AM CDT48Good8.533.7
Fri, 2:00 AM CDT51Moderate10.330.4
Fri, 3:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.127.4
Fri, 4:00 AM CDT53Moderate11.124.9
Fri, 5:00 AM CDT52Moderate9.222.7
Fri, 6:00 AM CDT48Good7.221.2
Fri, 7:00 AM CDT51Moderate10.219.6
Fri, 8:00 AM CDT49Good8.118.5
Fri, 9:00 AM CDT46Good7.418.4
Fri, 10:00 AM CDT47Good8.519.4
Fri, 11:00 AM CDT47Good8.821.3
Fri, 12:00 PM CDT49Good9.323.9
Fri, 1:00 PM CDT49Good8.927.7
Fri, 2:00 PM CDT44Good6.831.9
Fri, 3:00 PM CDT48Good9.636.4
Fri, 4:00 PM CDT47Good8.541.2
Fri, 5:00 PM CDT51Moderate10.244.6
Fri, 6:00 PM CDT49Good8.746.4
Fri, 7:00 PM CDT50Good9.146.7
Fri, 8:00 PM CDT55Moderate14.146
Fri, 9:00 PM CDT54Moderate9.744.4
Fri, 10:00 PM CDT53Moderate9.941.1
Fri, 11:00 PM CDT52Moderate937.3
Sat, 12:00 AM CDT51Moderate9.232.8
Sat, 1:00 AM CDT48Good7.929

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 Starks in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 2.2 µg/m³ around Wed, 8:00 AM CDT.

Smoke on the radar over Starks

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 StarksWarnings in Calcasieu ParishLive radar over StarksLouisiana 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.