Michigan air quality

Washtenaw County, Michigan Air Quality

Washtenaw County42.253, -83.839

The nearest monitor to Washtenaw County, at Ann Arbor, 12 miles away, measured an index of 6 at Tue, 4:00 AM EDT, which is Good for ground-level ozone. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy forecasts Moderate for Southeast today and Moderate tomorrow.

Measured now
6 · Good
Today
— · Moderate
Tomorrow
— · Moderate
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Washtenaw County, Michigan 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 Washtenaw County right now. All Michigan warnings.

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Ann Arbor, 12 miles away (site 261619991)
Index measured
6 · Good
Measured at
Tue, 4:00 AM EDT
Reporting area
Southeast, MI, 30 miles away
Reported by
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
Area index
61 · Moderate

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

Today and tomorrow

Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy's own forecast for Southeast, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModeratePM2.5
TomorrowModeratePM2.5
Thursday, October 1ModeratePM2.5
Friday, October 2GoodOzone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy for Southeast and filed with AirNow.

FORECAST DISCUSSION: The last few days of September will see high pressure dominating the weather regime as clear skies and temperatures ranging in the 60s and 70s will be felt across Michigan. Tuesday will be almost a copy and paste of today, Monday, as we do not start to see a change in weather until Wednesday. This is when a frontal boundary will move into the Great Lakes, Wednesday into Thursday, bringing rain and the potential of a few rumbles of thunder. On the backside of the front will be cooler temperatures ranging from the 50s and 60s. The trend that sets up on Thursday looks to persist through the first weekend of October. For air quality, the Ozone season is quickly coming to an end as temperatures cool and the sun angle, along with intensity, decreases. Ozone will remain in the Good range for the remainder of this week. PM2.5 will see a slight increase in the Moderate range on Wednesday and Thursday with the passing of the aforementioned front. This will be due to winds shifting to a more southerly direction as the front, and rain, move through. On the backside of the front, winds will shift back to north-northwesterly which will bring in cleaner air. EXTENDED FORECAST: As of now, the weekend ahead looks to be a continuation of the latter half of the work week: temperatures in the 60s with partly cloudy skies. Air quality is expected to be in the Good range.

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 57, Moderate, around Wed, 12:00 AM EDT, from the run issued Mon, 11:00 PM EDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Tue, 5:00 AM EDT46Good7.911.5
Tue, 6:00 AM EDT42Good6.98.7
Tue, 7:00 AM EDT38Good66.9
Tue, 8:00 AM EDT35Good5.85.8
Tue, 9:00 AM EDT33Good5.85.4
Tue, 10:00 AM EDT32Good5.35.8
Tue, 11:00 AM EDT31Good5.57.7
Tue, 12:00 PM EDT32Good5.911
Tue, 1:00 PM EDT33Good6.314.9
Tue, 2:00 PM EDT35Good6.719.7
Tue, 3:00 PM EDT36Good724.4
Tue, 4:00 PM EDT38Good7.629.3
Tue, 5:00 PM EDT41Good8.133.9
Tue, 6:00 PM EDT44Good8.838.1
Tue, 7:00 PM EDT47Good9.240.6
Tue, 8:00 PM EDT49Good9.241.5
Tue, 9:00 PM EDT53Moderate11.141.4
Tue, 10:00 PM EDT55Moderate12.340.8
Tue, 11:00 PM EDT56Moderate1339.9
Wed, 12:00 AM EDT57Moderate13.138.2
Wed, 1:00 AM EDT56Moderate11.535.8
Wed, 2:00 AM EDT56Moderate11.433.1
Wed, 3:00 AM EDT56Moderate12.230.5
Wed, 4:00 AM EDT56Moderate11.527.9
Wed, 5:00 AM EDT55Moderate10.725.5
Wed, 6:00 AM EDT54Moderate9.722.8
Wed, 7:00 AM EDT54Moderate9.820
Wed, 8:00 AM EDT53Moderate9.718.1
Wed, 9:00 AM EDT52Moderate9.216.9
Wed, 10:00 AM EDT52Moderate9.416.2
Wed, 11:00 AM EDT52Moderate9.616.5
Wed, 12:00 PM EDT52Moderate10.418.2
Wed, 1:00 PM EDT53Moderate11.620.7
Wed, 2:00 PM EDT54Moderate11.623.9
Wed, 3:00 PM EDT54Moderate11.827.6
Wed, 4:00 PM EDT55Moderate11.831.6
Wed, 5:00 PM EDT55Moderate11.135.2
Wed, 6:00 PM EDT54Moderate9.638.4
Wed, 7:00 PM EDT53Moderate9.241
Wed, 8:00 PM EDT52Moderate8.942.2
Wed, 9:00 PM EDT52Moderate8.842
Wed, 10:00 PM EDT52Moderate10.741.2
Wed, 11:00 PM EDT52Moderate9.639.6
Thu, 12:00 AM EDT52Moderate10.137.7
Thu, 1:00 AM EDT53Moderate10.935.6
Thu, 2:00 AM EDT54Moderate11.833.7
Thu, 3:00 AM EDT55Moderate12.331.8
Thu, 4:00 AM EDT55Moderate12.530.2
Thu, 5:00 AM EDT56Moderate12.629.2
Thu, 6:00 AM EDT56Moderate1228.2
Thu, 7:00 AM EDT56Moderate12.127.3
Thu, 8:00 AM EDT56Moderate11.326.8

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 Washtenaw County in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.2 µg/m³ around Tue, 5:00 AM EDT.

Smoke on the radar over Washtenaw County

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 Washtenaw CountyWarnings in Washtenaw CountyLive radar over Washtenaw CountyMichigan 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.