Pennsylvania air quality

Belfast, Pennsylvania Air Quality

Northampton County40.781, -75.278

The nearest monitor to Belfast, at Freemansburg, 11 miles away, measured an index of 32 at Fri, 2:00 PM EDT, which is Good for ground-level ozone. Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection forecasts Good for Lehigh Valley today and Good tomorrow. NOAA’s analysts drew light wildfire smoke over the town today.

Measured now
32 · Good
Today
32 · Good
Tomorrow
29 · Good
Pollutant
Ozone

Fine particles on the map

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

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

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Freemansburg, 11 miles away (site 420950025)
Index measured
32 · Good
Measured at
Fri, 2:00 PM EDT
Fine particles
3.1 µg/m³
Ozone
38 ppb
Reporting area
Lehigh Valley, PA, 20 miles away
Reported by
Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection
Area index
36 · Good

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

Today and tomorrow

Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection's own forecast for Lehigh Valley, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayGood32Ozone
TomorrowGood29Ozone
Sunday, September 27Good27Ozone
Monday, September 28Good30Ozone
Tuesday, September 29Good40Ozone
Wednesday, September 30GoodPM2.5

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection for Lehigh Valley and filed with AirNow.

Current Conditions at 3 p.m. EDT this Friday afternoon: Skies are mostly sunny with pleasant conditions weather wise. However, a big change is in the offing for the weekend as a major coastal storm backs westward. Rainy periods are likely both Saturday and Sunday, then only slow improvements early next week. Here are the forecast details: *** Saturday’s forecast: Overcast with rainy periods Saturday, mainly during the late morning and afternoon. A chilly, gusty wind will also be present as high temperatures remain in the upper 50s. Ozone and PM2.5 concentrations remain low. *** Sunday’s forecast: Mostly cloudy with a stiff north wind Sunday, along with rainy periods from time to time. Highs again may be limited to near 60. Low values of air pollutants will occur. *** Monday’s forecast: The strong low pressure system will slowly move out to sea Monday, but clouds and a couple of rain showers will linger with good air quality. *** Extended forecast: Skies turn partly sunny Tuesday with a milder afternoon, and Wednesday brings less wind with more sunshine appearing. Air quality remains good Tuesday through the mid-week period.---McAuliffe

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 28, Good, around Sat, 9:00 AM EDT, from the run issued Fri, 8:00 AM EDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Fri, 4:00 PM EDT20Good0.522.7
Fri, 5:00 PM EDT21Good0.523.7
Fri, 6:00 PM EDT22Good0.524.5
Fri, 7:00 PM EDT22Good0.824.9
Fri, 8:00 PM EDT23Good0.925.3
Fri, 9:00 PM EDT23Good0.725.2
Fri, 10:00 PM EDT22Good0.824.9
Fri, 11:00 PM EDT22Good0.924.5
Sat, 12:00 AM EDT22Good1.224.1
Sat, 1:00 AM EDT21Good1.423.9
Sat, 2:00 AM EDT21Good1.223.9
Sat, 3:00 AM EDT22Good1.124.6
Sat, 4:00 AM EDT23Good0.525.2
Sat, 5:00 AM EDT24Good0.626.3
Sat, 6:00 AM EDT25Good0.727.4
Sat, 7:00 AM EDT26Good0.328.5
Sat, 8:00 AM EDT27Good0.329.9
Sat, 9:00 AM EDT28Good0.430.4
Sat, 10:00 AM EDT28Good0.630.7
Sat, 11:00 AM EDT28Good0.530.5
Sat, 12:00 PM EDT27Good0.430
Sat, 1:00 PM EDT27Good0.229.3
Sat, 2:00 PM EDT26Good0.328.6
Sat, 3:00 PM EDT26Good0.428
Sat, 4:00 PM EDT25Good0.227.2
Sat, 5:00 PM EDT25Good0.627.3
Sat, 6:00 PM EDT25Good127.4
Sat, 7:00 PM EDT25Good0.627.4
Sat, 8:00 PM EDT25Good0.527.8
Sat, 9:00 PM EDT25Good0.427.5
Sat, 10:00 PM EDT25Good0.327.6
Sat, 11:00 PM EDT25Good0.227.7
Sun, 12:00 AM EDT25Good0.128
Sun, 1:00 AM EDT25Good0.227.9
Sun, 2:00 AM EDT25Good0.328
Sun, 3:00 AM EDT26Good0.428.3
Sun, 4:00 AM EDT26Good0.228.2
Sun, 5:00 AM EDT26Good0.728.6
Sun, 6:00 AM EDT26Good1.228.4
Sun, 7:00 AM EDT26Good0.328.3
Sun, 8:00 AM EDT26Good0.628.3
Sun, 9:00 AM EDT26Good0.428.5
Sun, 10:00 AM EDT26Good0.728.7
Sun, 11:00 AM EDT26Good0.928.9
Sun, 12:00 PM EDT27Good0.529
Sun, 1:00 PM EDT27Good0.529
Sun, 2:00 PM EDT27Good0.529.2
Sun, 3:00 PM EDT27Good1.229.2
Sun, 4:00 PM EDT27Good1.129
Sun, 5:00 PM EDT26Good1.128.8
Sun, 6:00 PM EDT26Good1.228.5
Sun, 7:00 PM EDT26Good0.528
Sun, 8:00 PM EDT25Good0.327.9
Sun, 9:00 PM EDT25Good0.727.4
Sun, 10:00 PM EDT24Good0.826.8
Sun, 11:00 PM EDT24Good0.526.6
Mon, 12:00 AM EDT24Good0.826.4
Mon, 1:00 AM EDT23Good0.726
Mon, 2:00 AM EDT23Good0.825.7
Mon, 3:00 AM EDT23Good0.825.6
Mon, 4:00 AM EDT23Good0.725.4
Mon, 5:00 AM EDT23Good1.226
Mon, 6:00 AM EDT24Good1.526.2
Mon, 7:00 AM EDT24Good1.326.1
Mon, 8:00 AM EDT23Good1.325.8

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 Belfast in satellite imagery today (Fri, 8:00 AM EDT to Fri, 11:00 AM EDT). That is smoke seen from above; it is not always smoke at ground level.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.1 µg/m³ around Fri, 11:00 PM EDT.

Smoke on the radar over Belfast

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 BelfastWarnings in Northampton CountyLive radar over BelfastPennsylvania 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.