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New Jersey Air Quality

Central is the worst air in New Jersey right now at an index of 48, which is Good, from fine particles (PM2.5). AirNow carries 10 reporting areas in the state. No air quality alert is in force. Wildfire smoke has been drawn over 333 of the state’s towns today.

Reporting areas: 10
Worst index now: 48
Alerts in force: 0
Towns under smoke: 333

Fine particles on the map

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

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 in New Jersey right now. All New Jersey warnings.

By city, now and the days ahead10

Every AirNow reporting area in New Jersey: 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
Central	48	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
Northeast Urban	43	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
Riverline	37	Good	Good	Good	PM2.5
South Coastal	30	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Southern Bay	30	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Monmouth County	28	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
North Central	21	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Southeast Burlington and Ocean Counties	19	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
Delaware Water Gap	15	Good	Good	Good	Ozone
New Jersey		No reading	Good	Good	PM2.5

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection for Central and filed with AirNow.

9/18 - A cold front passes through the region early Friday morning ushering in a drier and cooler airmass. Levels of fine particulates remain low moderate statewide, while ozone remains in the good category. 9/19 - Good air quality is expected across New Jersey on Saturday due to partly sunny skies and an onshore flow. 9/20 - Rainy conditions are forecast for Sunday as low pressure moves into the region keeping air quality in the good category statewide. 9/21 - A chance of rain lingers into Monday. Cloudy conditions, cooler temperatures, and a breezy onshore flow will keep air quality good.

Smoke

Where NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System analysts have drawn wildfire smoke over New Jersey in today’s satellite imagery. Smoke drawn overhead is not always smoke at ground level; each town’s page carries the near-surface forecast.

Light Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Edison, Trenton, Toms River, Clifton, Camden, Brick, Passaic, Cherry Hill, Union City, Bayonne, Middletown, East Orange and 317 more

Smoke on the radar over New Jersey

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 New Jersey: what is measured nearby, the category forecast for today and tomorrow, and NOAA’s model hour by hour. Largest first.

352 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.