All states

Massachusetts Air Quality

Essex is the worst air in Massachusetts right now at an index of 29, which is Good, from fine particles (PM2.5). AirNow carries 11 reporting areas in the state. No air quality alert is in force.

Reporting areas: 11
Worst index now: 29
Alerts in force: 0
Towns under smoke: Unavailable

Radar

Reflectivity now over Massachusetts. Open it to see the particulate forecast on the map.

Open the live radar with the particulate forecast

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS and 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 in Massachusetts right now. All Massachusetts warnings.

By city, now and the days ahead11

Every AirNow reporting area in Massachusetts: 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.

Reporting area	Now	Category now	Today	Tomorrow	Pollutant
Essex	29	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
South Bristol-Plymouth	26	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Cape Cod and Islands	25	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
West Middlesex	24	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
Norfolk	21	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Berkshire	19	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
Boston Metro	19	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Hampden-Hampshire	18	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Worcester	18	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Franklin	17	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
North Bristol-Plymouth	17	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5

Smoke

NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis could not be read just now.

Smoke on the radar over Massachusetts

What this means

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.

Towns

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

261 smaller towns

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

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.