Ohio air quality

Lancaster, Ohio Air Quality

Fairfield County39.714, -82.599

The nearest monitor to Lancaster, at Reynoldsburg, 19 miles away, measured an index of 15 at Tue, 10:00 AM EDT, which is Good for ground-level ozone. MORPC forecasts Good for Columbus today and Good tomorrow.

Measured now
15 · Good
Today
28 · Good
Tomorrow
26 · Good
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

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

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

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Reynoldsburg, 19 miles away (site 390890008)
Index measured
15 · Good
Measured at
Tue, 10:00 AM EDT
Ozone
14 ppb
Reporting area
Columbus, OH, 28 miles away
Reported by
MORPC
Area index
23 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

MORPC's own forecast for Columbus, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayGood28Ozone
TomorrowGood26Ozone
Thursday, September 24Good34Ozone
Friday, September 25Good40Ozone
Saturday, September 26Good43Ozone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by MORPC for Columbus and filed with AirNow.

Monday, September 21 through Wednesday, September 23: Moderate northeasterly to easterly winds will transport clean, cool air into central Ohio as a surface high-pressure system slowly passes to the north. In addition, mostly cloudy skies and rain showers will limit ozone development. Therefore, AQI levels will remain Good on all three days. Thursday, as the surface ridge weakens to the north, lighter easterly winds will decrease dispersion. However, pollutant carryover will be low, while partly cloudy skies and cool temperatures continue to hinder ozone formation. As a result, AQI levels will remain Good. Friday and Saturday, increasing sun and slightly warmer temperatures will support ozone production. However, light to moderate northeasterly winds will continue to carry clean air into the Columbus region, keeping AQI levels Good on both days.

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 49, Good, around Tue, 6:00 PM EDT, from the run issued Tue, 2:00 AM EDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Tue, 4:00 AM EDT17Good2.9
Tue, 5:00 AM EDT15Good2.3
Tue, 6:00 AM EDT14Good2.3
Tue, 7:00 AM EDT13Good2.2
Tue, 8:00 AM EDT11Good1.8
Tue, 9:00 AM EDT9Good1.5
Tue, 10:00 AM EDT18Good1.520
Tue, 11:00 AM EDT18Good1.619.6
Tue, 12:00 PM EDT17Good218.9
Tue, 1:00 PM EDT17Good2.318.1
Tue, 2:00 PM EDT16Good3.217.3
Tue, 3:00 PM EDT21Good516.8
Tue, 4:00 PM EDT31Good7.316.7
Tue, 5:00 PM EDT41Good9.417
Tue, 6:00 PM EDT49Good10.417.1
Tue, 7:00 PM EDT49Good8.716.9
Tue, 8:00 PM EDT35Good3.917.3
Tue, 9:00 PM EDT23Good2.117.7
Tue, 10:00 PM EDT17Good2.118.1
Tue, 11:00 PM EDT17Good218.3
Wed, 12:00 AM EDT17Good218.3
Wed, 1:00 AM EDT17Good318
Wed, 2:00 AM EDT17Good1.618
Wed, 3:00 AM EDT17Good1.518.6
Wed, 4:00 AM EDT17Good1.318.8
Wed, 5:00 AM EDT17Good1.419
Wed, 6:00 AM EDT17Good1.618.9
Wed, 7:00 AM EDT17Good2.218.4
Wed, 8:00 AM EDT16Good1.917.9
Wed, 9:00 AM EDT16Good1.817.5
Wed, 10:00 AM EDT16Good1.417.4
Wed, 11:00 AM EDT16Good1.117
Wed, 12:00 PM EDT15Good1.216.3
Wed, 1:00 PM EDT14Good1.415.9
Wed, 2:00 PM EDT14Good1.115.7
Wed, 3:00 PM EDT14Good0.816
Wed, 4:00 PM EDT15Good0.916.9
Wed, 5:00 PM EDT16Good117.5
Wed, 6:00 PM EDT16Good0.917.8
Wed, 7:00 PM EDT17Good118
Wed, 8:00 PM EDT17Good0.818.3
Wed, 9:00 PM EDT17Good1.118.4
Wed, 10:00 PM EDT17Good1.318.8
Wed, 11:00 PM EDT18Good1.219.2
Thu, 12:00 AM EDT18Good1.819.3
Thu, 1:00 AM EDT18Good2.719.7
Thu, 2:00 AM EDT19Good1.920.7
Thu, 3:00 AM EDT19Good2.421.7
Thu, 4:00 AM EDT20Good2.422.6
Thu, 5:00 AM EDT21Good2.423.2
Thu, 6:00 AM EDT21Good1.723.6
Thu, 7:00 AM EDT21Good0.723.6
Thu, 8:00 AM EDT21Good0.423.3
Thu, 9:00 AM EDT20Good0.222.2
Thu, 10:00 AM EDT19Good0.721.2
Thu, 11:00 AM EDT19Good1.220.6
Thu, 12:00 PM EDT19Good1.620.6
Thu, 1:00 PM EDT19Good221.1
Thu, 2:00 PM EDT19Good2.721.9
Thu, 3:00 PM EDT21Good323.3
Thu, 4:00 PM EDT23Good2.725.1
Thu, 5:00 PM EDT25Good2.527.3
Thu, 6:00 PM EDT27Good1.729
Thu, 7:00 PM EDT27Good0.430
Thu, 8:00 PM EDT28Good1.230.3
Thu, 9:00 PM EDT27Good1.229.9
Thu, 10:00 PM EDT27Good0.929.4
Thu, 11:00 PM EDT26Good1.628.6
Fri, 12:00 AM EDT25Good2.227.5
Fri, 1:00 AM EDT24Good3.526.2
Fri, 2:00 AM EDT22Good2.825

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 Lancaster in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts no measurable smoke near the ground here over the next two days.

Smoke on the radar over Lancaster

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 LancasterWarnings in Fairfield CountyLive radar over LancasterOhio 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.