Pennsylvania air quality

Hershey, Pennsylvania Air Quality

Dauphin County40.286, -76.650

The nearest monitor to Hershey, at Hershey, 2 miles away, measured an index of 26 at Tue, 2:00 PM EDT, which is Good for fine particles (PM2.5). Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection forecasts Good for Susquehanna Valley today and Good tomorrow.

Measured now
26 · Good
Today
30 · Good
Tomorrow
34 · Good
Pollutant
PM2.5

Fine particles on the map

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

Now

Good

Nearest monitor
Hershey, 2 miles away (site 420431100)
Index measured
26 · Good
Measured at
Tue, 2:00 PM EDT
Fine particles
4.5 µg/m³
Ozone
20 ppb
Reporting area
Susquehanna Valley, PA, 24 miles away
Reported by
Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection
Area index
37 · 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 Susquehanna Valley, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayGood30PM2.5
TomorrowGood34Ozone
Thursday, September 24Good37Ozone
Friday, September 25GoodPM2.5

The forecaster’s discussion

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

Current Conditions at 3 p.m. EDT this Tuesday afternoon: Skies are overcast with a bit of light rain and drizzle across parts of the area. A brisk east to northeast wind has brought very clean air in, so fine particle (PM2.5) and ozone levels are very low. Some increases in these pollutants may occur over the next few days, but good air quality will continue. Here are the forecast details: *** Wednesday’s forecast: Clouds will break for a little sun Wednesday, and the sun should boost afternoon temperatures to the upper 60s. Breezy northeast winds will keep PM2.5 and ozone low. *** Extended forecast: High pressure will maintain dry conditions Thursday through Saturday with skies sunny most of the time. A coastal low pressure system may retrograde (that is, move westward) Saturday night into Sunday and bring more cloudiness in. Good air quality will continue Thursday into the weekend.---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 39, Good, around Thu, 1:00 AM EDT, from the run issued Tue, 8:00 AM EDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Tue, 10:00 AM EDT21Good3.2
Tue, 11:00 AM EDT13Good1.5
Tue, 12:00 PM EDT9Good1
Tue, 1:00 PM EDT8Good1.5
Tue, 2:00 PM EDT4Good0.3
Tue, 3:00 PM EDT7Good1.5
Tue, 4:00 PM EDT17Good1.518.3
Tue, 5:00 PM EDT17Good1.518.8
Tue, 6:00 PM EDT17Good1.318.6
Tue, 7:00 PM EDT17Good1.518.6
Tue, 8:00 PM EDT17Good1.118.6
Tue, 9:00 PM EDT17Good2.118.7
Tue, 10:00 PM EDT17Good3.418.9
Tue, 11:00 PM EDT17Good2.218.6
Wed, 12:00 AM EDT17Good2.918.3
Wed, 1:00 AM EDT16Good1.917.8
Wed, 2:00 AM EDT16Good0.917.9
Wed, 3:00 AM EDT16Good1.217.4
Wed, 4:00 AM EDT15Good2.816.9
Wed, 5:00 AM EDT15Good2.116.2
Wed, 6:00 AM EDT13Good2.115
Wed, 7:00 AM EDT12Good2.213.6
Wed, 8:00 AM EDT12Good2.112.6
Wed, 9:00 AM EDT11Good1.812.1
Wed, 10:00 AM EDT10Good1.811.7
Wed, 11:00 AM EDT12Good2.511.5
Wed, 12:00 PM EDT14Good311.6
Wed, 1:00 PM EDT16Good3.412.3
Wed, 2:00 PM EDT21Good4.513.6
Wed, 3:00 PM EDT22Good4.216.1
Wed, 4:00 PM EDT18Good1.819.5
Wed, 5:00 PM EDT21Good1.423.2
Wed, 6:00 PM EDT24Good2.626.8
Wed, 7:00 PM EDT27Good329.9
Wed, 8:00 PM EDT29Good1.531.5
Wed, 9:00 PM EDT30Good4.832.5
Wed, 10:00 PM EDT30Good532.3
Wed, 11:00 PM EDT29Good4.931.6
Thu, 12:00 AM EDT36Good8.329
Thu, 1:00 AM EDT39Good7.925.8
Thu, 2:00 AM EDT34Good5.122.7
Thu, 3:00 AM EDT25Good2.919.8
Thu, 4:00 AM EDT19Good2.517.8
Thu, 5:00 AM EDT15Good215.9
Thu, 6:00 AM EDT15Good2.814.7
Thu, 7:00 AM EDT12Good1.613.6
Thu, 8:00 AM EDT12Good1.513.1
Thu, 9:00 AM EDT11Good2.112.9
Thu, 10:00 AM EDT12Good2.413
Thu, 11:00 AM EDT14Good313.6
Thu, 12:00 PM EDT14Good2.414.8
Thu, 1:00 PM EDT15Good2.716.7
Thu, 2:00 PM EDT18Good219.1
Thu, 3:00 PM EDT20Good2.322.1
Thu, 4:00 PM EDT23Good2.625.8
Thu, 5:00 PM EDT26Good2.128.8
Thu, 6:00 PM EDT28Good130.8
Thu, 7:00 PM EDT30Good1.232.2
Thu, 8:00 PM EDT30Good1.232.3
Thu, 9:00 PM EDT29Good131.1
Thu, 10:00 PM EDT27Good1.229.4
Thu, 11:00 PM EDT24Good1.326.5
Fri, 12:00 AM EDT20Good1.922.7
Fri, 1:00 AM EDT19Good3.520
Fri, 2:00 AM EDT18Good417.5
Fri, 3:00 AM EDT19Good3.815.1
Fri, 4:00 AM EDT19Good3.713.8
Fri, 5:00 AM EDT18Good3.113
Fri, 6:00 AM EDT21Good4.112.3
Fri, 7:00 AM EDT21Good3.811.6
Fri, 8:00 AM EDT19Good3.211.4

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 Hershey 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 Hershey

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 HersheyWarnings in Dauphin CountyLive radar over HersheyPennsylvania 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.