Montana air quality

Boulder, Montana Air Quality

Jefferson County46.237, -112.121

The nearest monitor to Boulder, at Butte, 24 miles away, measured an index of 7 at Mon, 8:00 AM MDT, which is Good for fine particles (PM2.5). NOAA’s air quality model puts the worst hour ahead at an index of 45, Good.

Measured now
7 · Good
Today
Not forecast
Tomorrow
Not forecast
Pollutant
PM2.5

Fine particles on the map

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

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

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Butte, 24 miles away (site 300930005)
Index measured
7 · Good
Measured at
Mon, 8:00 AM MDT
Fine particles
-0.1 µg/m³
Reporting area
Butte, MT, 24 miles away
Reported by
Montana DEQ
Area index
7 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

No state or local agency has filed a daily forecast for this area. NOAA’s model forecast below covers the same hours.

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 45, Good, around Wed, 8:00 PM MDT, from the run issued Mon, 12:00 AM MDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Mon, 2:00 AM MDT7Good1.3
Mon, 3:00 AM MDT7Good1.6
Mon, 4:00 AM MDT9Good1.9
Mon, 5:00 AM MDT10Good2
Mon, 6:00 AM MDT13Good2.9
Mon, 7:00 AM MDT17Good3.7
Mon, 8:00 AM MDT23Good3.225.2
Mon, 9:00 AM MDT22Good524.1
Mon, 10:00 AM MDT24Good4.724.1
Mon, 11:00 AM MDT28Good5.825.1
Mon, 12:00 PM MDT29Good5.527
Mon, 1:00 PM MDT28Good4.829.3
Mon, 2:00 PM MDT29Good3.131.7
Mon, 3:00 PM MDT31Good4.334.5
Mon, 4:00 PM MDT34Good337.3
Mon, 5:00 PM MDT37Good2.440
Mon, 6:00 PM MDT39Good1.242.1
Mon, 7:00 PM MDT40Good2.443.5
Mon, 8:00 PM MDT40Good1.143.5
Mon, 9:00 PM MDT39Good1.642.5
Mon, 10:00 PM MDT38Good4.341.1
Mon, 11:00 PM MDT36Good4.139.7
Tue, 12:00 AM MDT35Good5.438.1
Tue, 1:00 AM MDT33Good436.4
Tue, 2:00 AM MDT31Good3.534.3
Tue, 3:00 AM MDT30Good2.832.2
Tue, 4:00 AM MDT28Good2.730.6
Tue, 5:00 AM MDT27Good2.329.3
Tue, 6:00 AM MDT26Good2.528.6
Tue, 7:00 AM MDT25Good3.227.7
Tue, 8:00 AM MDT24Good2.126.8
Tue, 9:00 AM MDT23Good3.125.7
Tue, 10:00 AM MDT23Good3.125.4
Tue, 11:00 AM MDT23Good5.125.9
Tue, 12:00 PM MDT31Good727.2
Tue, 1:00 PM MDT31Good5.829.1
Tue, 2:00 PM MDT28Good3.130.7
Tue, 3:00 PM MDT30Good4.932.9
Tue, 4:00 PM MDT32Good2.335.2
Tue, 5:00 PM MDT34Good1.837.3
Tue, 6:00 PM MDT35Good2.238.6
Tue, 7:00 PM MDT36Good1.739.7
Tue, 8:00 PM MDT37Good0.840.8
Tue, 9:00 PM MDT38Good2.541.4
Tue, 10:00 PM MDT37Good3.740.7
Tue, 11:00 PM MDT36Good2.339.6
Wed, 12:00 AM MDT35Good2.538
Wed, 1:00 AM MDT33Good2.536.6
Wed, 2:00 AM MDT32Good3.335.2
Wed, 3:00 AM MDT30Good2.532.9
Wed, 4:00 AM MDT28Good2.330.6
Wed, 5:00 AM MDT26Good1.428
Wed, 6:00 AM MDT24Good326.7
Wed, 7:00 AM MDT23Good2.825.1
Wed, 8:00 AM MDT21Good2.123.9
Wed, 9:00 AM MDT21Good2.723.5
Wed, 10:00 AM MDT21Good4.423.7
Wed, 11:00 AM MDT24Good5.324.7
Wed, 12:00 PM MDT29Good6.226.2
Wed, 1:00 PM MDT29Good5.328.6
Wed, 2:00 PM MDT29Good3.231.3
Wed, 3:00 PM MDT31Good4.934.9
Wed, 4:00 PM MDT35Good2.338.7
Wed, 5:00 PM MDT39Good2.942.2
Wed, 6:00 PM MDT42Good1.945.3
Wed, 7:00 PM MDT44Good1.747.9
Wed, 8:00 PM MDT45Good1.649.2
Wed, 9:00 PM MDT45Good1.949.2
Wed, 10:00 PM MDT44Good2.848.6
Wed, 11:00 PM MDT44Good3.747.2
Thu, 12:00 AM MDT42Good0.945.1

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 Boulder in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.3 µg/m³ around Sun, 9:00 PM MDT.

Smoke on the radar over Boulder

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 BoulderWarnings in Jefferson CountyLive radar over BoulderMontana 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.