Oklahoma air quality

Empire City, Oklahoma Air Quality

Stephens County34.420, -98.027

The nearest monitor to Empire City, at Lawton North, 27 miles away, measured an index of 44 at Wed, 11:00 AM CDT, which is Good for ground-level ozone. Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality forecasts Moderate for Lawton today and Moderate tomorrow. NOAA’s analysts drew light wildfire smoke over the town today.

Measured now
44 · Good
Today
55 · Moderate
Tomorrow
65 · Moderate
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Empire City, Oklahoma 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 Empire City right now. All Oklahoma warnings.

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Lawton North, 27 miles away (site 400310651)
Index measured
44 · Good
Measured at
Wed, 11:00 AM CDT
Fine particles
9.3 µg/m³
Ozone
52 ppb
Reporting area
Lawton, OK, 30 miles away
Reported by
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
Area index
48 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality's own forecast for Lawton, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModerate55Ozone
TomorrowModerate65Ozone
Friday, September 25Moderate55Ozone
Saturday, September 26Good45Ozone
Sunday, September 27Good40Ozone
Monday, September 28Good45Ozone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality for Lawton and filed with AirNow.

Temperatures are slowly returning to more seasonable levels across Oklahoma following the collapse of the heat dome. However, conditions are remaining warm, with high temperatures into the 90s, which will support ozone formation statewide. Ozone concentrations are expected to reach the Moderate/Yellow category in the latter half of this week for all parts of Oklahoma except the southeast portion of the state. Additionally, particulate matter concentrations into the Moderate category are expected along the I-35 corridor and in the Tulsa area by the end of this week. Storm chances are ongoing for this week through the weekend, with the potential for rainfall to provide localized air quality improvement.

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 74, Moderate, around Thu, 8:00 PM CDT, from the run issued Wed, 7:00 AM CDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Wed, 9:00 AM CDT31Good5.9
Wed, 10:00 AM CDT32Good6
Wed, 11:00 AM CDT34Good6.7
Wed, 12:00 PM CDT36Good7.3
Wed, 1:00 PM CDT37Good7.1
Wed, 2:00 PM CDT38Good7.3
Wed, 3:00 PM CDT41Good8.242.9
Wed, 4:00 PM CDT43Good8.546.5
Wed, 5:00 PM CDT46Good9.149.5
Wed, 6:00 PM CDT48Good9.251.1
Wed, 7:00 PM CDT50Good9.551.7
Wed, 8:00 PM CDT51Moderate9.551.9
Wed, 9:00 PM CDT52Moderate9.951.6
Wed, 10:00 PM CDT52Moderate1051.1
Wed, 11:00 PM CDT52Moderate10.550.2
Thu, 12:00 AM CDT53Moderate10.948.8
Thu, 1:00 AM CDT54Moderate11.146.8
Thu, 2:00 AM CDT54Moderate1144.6
Thu, 3:00 AM CDT54Moderate11.242.2
Thu, 4:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.940
Thu, 5:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.738.1
Thu, 6:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.136.4
Thu, 7:00 AM CDT54Moderate1035
Thu, 8:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.434.2
Thu, 9:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.534.3
Thu, 10:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.635.6
Thu, 11:00 AM CDT54Moderate10.837.6
Thu, 12:00 PM CDT54Moderate11.140
Thu, 1:00 PM CDT54Moderate11.742.9
Thu, 2:00 PM CDT54Moderate11.546
Thu, 3:00 PM CDT55Moderate12.749.4
Thu, 4:00 PM CDT56Moderate12.853
Thu, 5:00 PM CDT56Moderate12.856.5
Thu, 6:00 PM CDT64Moderate1259.1
Thu, 7:00 PM CDT71Moderate11.261.2
Thu, 8:00 PM CDT74Moderate11.362.4
Thu, 9:00 PM CDT74Moderate10.962.2
Thu, 10:00 PM CDT71Moderate10.661.2
Thu, 11:00 PM CDT64Moderate10.459.7
Fri, 12:00 AM CDT58Moderate9.357.4
Fri, 1:00 AM CDT51Moderate854.4
Fri, 2:00 AM CDT49Good8.150.9
Fri, 3:00 AM CDT48Good8.247
Fri, 4:00 AM CDT47Good8.443.4
Fri, 5:00 AM CDT48Good8.840.7
Fri, 6:00 AM CDT48Good8.838.3
Fri, 7:00 AM CDT49Good9.135.9
Fri, 8:00 AM CDT50Good9.733.8
Fri, 9:00 AM CDT51Moderate10.232.7
Fri, 10:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.332.8
Fri, 11:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.134.3
Fri, 12:00 PM CDT52Moderate10.536.8
Fri, 1:00 PM CDT54Moderate11.740
Fri, 2:00 PM CDT55Moderate12.543.9
Fri, 3:00 PM CDT57Moderate13.448.1
Fri, 4:00 PM CDT57Moderate12.852.5
Fri, 5:00 PM CDT57Moderate12.356.4
Fri, 6:00 PM CDT64Moderate11.859.5
Fri, 7:00 PM CDT71Moderate12.261.3
Fri, 8:00 PM CDT71Moderate1161.6
Fri, 9:00 PM CDT67Moderate8.961
Fri, 10:00 PM CDT64Moderate7.459.9
Fri, 11:00 PM CDT61Moderate7.758.2
Sat, 12:00 AM CDT54Moderate9.556.1
Sat, 1:00 AM CDT51Moderate9.753.8
Sat, 2:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.451.1
Sat, 3:00 AM CDT53Moderate10.548.5
Sat, 4:00 AM CDT53Moderate10.546.1
Sat, 5:00 AM CDT52Moderate9.744
Sat, 6:00 AM CDT52Moderate9.341.9
Sat, 7:00 AM CDT52Moderate10.440.1

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 Hazard Mapping System analysts drew light smoke over Empire City in satellite imagery today (Wed, 7:00 AM CDT to Wed, 10:00 AM CDT). That is smoke seen from above; it is not always smoke at ground level.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.9 µg/m³ around Thu, 6:00 PM CDT.

Smoke on the radar over Empire City

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 Empire CityWarnings in Stephens CountyLive radar over Empire CityOklahoma 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.