Minnesota air quality

Fairmont, Minnesota Air Quality

Martin County43.652, -94.461

The nearest reporting area, South Central Minnesota, measured an index of 21 this hour, which is Good. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency forecasts Good for South Central Minnesota today and Good tomorrow.

Measured now
21 · Good
Today
— · Good
Tomorrow
— · Good
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

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

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

Now

Good

Reporting area
South Central Minnesota, MN, 46 miles away
Reported by
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Area index
21 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's own forecast for South Central Minnesota, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayGoodOzone
TomorrowGoodOzone
Tuesday, September 22GoodOzone
Wednesday, September 23GoodOzone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for South Central Minnesota and filed with AirNow.

Continued below normal temperatures and the lack of wind moving persistently from a source region of elevated concentrations of fine particle pollution into Minnesota means continued Green (good) AQI statewide through the weekend and into next week.

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 26, Good, around Sun, 6:00 AM CDT, from the run issued Sun, 1:00 AM CDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Sun, 3:00 AM CDT19Good2.7
Sun, 4:00 AM CDT18Good3.1
Sun, 5:00 AM CDT21Good4.3
Sun, 6:00 AM CDT26Good5.5
Sun, 7:00 AM CDT19Good2.5
Sun, 8:00 AM CDT12Good0.8
Sun, 9:00 AM CDT13Good0.514.5
Sun, 10:00 AM CDT13Good0.514.6
Sun, 11:00 AM CDT14Good0.315.2
Sun, 12:00 PM CDT15Good0.816.1
Sun, 1:00 PM CDT16Good0.817
Sun, 2:00 PM CDT16Good0.917.9
Sun, 3:00 PM CDT17Good0.919
Sun, 4:00 PM CDT18Good0.920
Sun, 5:00 PM CDT19Good0.920.6
Sun, 6:00 PM CDT19Good0.421.4
Sun, 7:00 PM CDT19Good1.121.6
Sun, 8:00 PM CDT19Good1.421.6
Sun, 9:00 PM CDT19Good2.221.4
Sun, 10:00 PM CDT19Good1.920.7
Sun, 11:00 PM CDT18Good119.9
Mon, 12:00 AM CDT18Good119.2
Mon, 1:00 AM CDT18Good1.119.2
Mon, 2:00 AM CDT17Good1.718.6
Mon, 3:00 AM CDT16Good0.917.9
Mon, 4:00 AM CDT16Good0.817.3
Mon, 5:00 AM CDT15Good0.916.6
Mon, 6:00 AM CDT15Good216
Mon, 7:00 AM CDT14Good0.415.6
Mon, 8:00 AM CDT14Good0.315.1
Mon, 9:00 AM CDT13Good0.214.2
Mon, 10:00 AM CDT12Good0.313.5
Mon, 11:00 AM CDT11Good0.412.8
Mon, 12:00 PM CDT11Good0.612.3
Mon, 1:00 PM CDT10Good0.712
Mon, 2:00 PM CDT11Good0.712.2
Mon, 3:00 PM CDT11Good0.612.5
Mon, 4:00 PM CDT11Good0.612.9
Mon, 5:00 PM CDT12Good0.413.3
Mon, 6:00 PM CDT13Good0.614.1
Mon, 7:00 PM CDT14Good1.915.1
Mon, 8:00 PM CDT14Good1.215.6
Mon, 9:00 PM CDT15Good3.416.2
Mon, 10:00 PM CDT15Good2.416.4
Mon, 11:00 PM CDT15Good1.916
Tue, 12:00 AM CDT14Good2.315.5
Tue, 1:00 AM CDT14Good314.7
Tue, 2:00 AM CDT17Good3.814
Tue, 3:00 AM CDT16Good2.813.3
Tue, 4:00 AM CDT13Good1.912.8
Tue, 5:00 AM CDT11Good1.612.1
Tue, 6:00 AM CDT10Good1.511.3
Tue, 7:00 AM CDT10Good1.311
Tue, 8:00 AM CDT10Good0.511.3
Tue, 9:00 AM CDT10Good0.411.6
Tue, 10:00 AM CDT10Good0.311.7
Tue, 11:00 AM CDT11Good0.212.1
Tue, 12:00 PM CDT12Good0.913.4
Tue, 1:00 PM CDT13Good0.914.5
Tue, 2:00 PM CDT15Good0.116.1
Tue, 3:00 PM CDT16Good0.917.8
Tue, 4:00 PM CDT17Good0.219
Tue, 5:00 PM CDT19Good0.120.8
Tue, 6:00 PM CDT20Good0.322.3
Tue, 7:00 PM CDT21Good1.823.5
Tue, 8:00 PM CDT21Good1.723.2
Tue, 9:00 PM CDT20Good2.522.9
Tue, 10:00 PM CDT19Good1.221.7
Tue, 11:00 PM CDT18Good1.219.9
Wed, 12:00 AM CDT17Good1.118
Wed, 1:00 AM CDT14Good1.815.7

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 Fairmont in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.1 µg/m³ around Sun, 3:00 PM CDT.

Smoke on the radar over Fairmont

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 FairmontWarnings in Martin CountyLive radar over FairmontMinnesota 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.