Lexington, South Carolina Air Quality
The nearest monitor to Lexington, at Irmo DJJ, 9 miles away, measured an index of 43 at Tue, 7:00 PM EDT, which is Good for fine particles (PM2.5). South Carolina DES forecasts Moderate for Columbia today and Moderate tomorrow.
- Measured now
- 43 · Good
- Today
- 67 · Moderate
- Tomorrow
- 54 · Moderate
- Pollutant
- PM2.5
Fine particles on the map
Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Lexington, South Carolina. 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 near Lexington right now. All South Carolina warnings.
Now
Good
- Nearest monitor
- Irmo DJJ, 9 miles away (site 840450790022)
- Index measured
- 43 · Good
- Measured at
- Tue, 7:00 PM EDT
- Fine particles
- 7.7 µg/m³
- Reporting area
- Columbia, SC, 20 miles away
- Reported by
- South Carolina DES
- Area index
- 43 · Good
Measured, not modeled. AirNow observations are preliminary until the operating agency certifies them, which happens months later.
Today and tomorrow
South Carolina DES's own forecast for Columbia, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.
| Day | Category | Index | Pollutant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Today | Moderate | 67 | Ozone |
| Tomorrow | Moderate | 54 | Ozone |
The forecaster’s discussion
Written by South Carolina DES for Columbia and filed with AirNow.
*** This is the final ozone forecast of the 2026 ground level ozone season. Forecasts will resume on March 31st, 2027. *** Most forecast regions across South Carolina are on track to see ground level ozone averages within the upper reaches of code green as of this Tuesday afternoon, though the Central Savannah River Area may see a code yellow average today. Surface high pressure will once again control our weather tomorrow with another day of sunny skies and high temperatures inching upward into the upper 80’s for most. Very light and variable winds are expected, especially for locations further from the coast, which may enhance pooling of ozone at the surface as our air mass stagnates. The Midlands, Upstate, and Pee Dee regions are forecast to see ground level ozone averages within CODE YELLOW on Wednesday with all other regions forecast for CODE GREEN.
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 61, Moderate, around Tue, 8:00 PM EDT, from the run issued Tue, 8:00 AM EDT. This is a model, not a measurement.
| Hour | Index | Category | PM2.5 | Ozone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue, 8:00 PM EDT | 61 | Moderate | 8.4 | 58.6 |
| Tue, 9:00 PM EDT | 54 | Moderate | 8.2 | 56.1 |
| Tue, 10:00 PM EDT | 48 | Good | 8.5 | 52.3 |
| Tue, 11:00 PM EDT | 49 | Good | 10.4 | 47.4 |
| Wed, 12:00 AM EDT | 53 | Moderate | 11.6 | 41.7 |
| Wed, 1:00 AM EDT | 55 | Moderate | 12.5 | 35.6 |
| Wed, 2:00 AM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 13.7 | 30.1 |
| Wed, 3:00 AM EDT | 58 | Moderate | 13.2 | 25.7 |
| Wed, 4:00 AM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 12.6 | 23.2 |
| Wed, 5:00 AM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 12.1 | 21.2 |
| Wed, 6:00 AM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 11.9 | 19.8 |
| Wed, 7:00 AM EDT | 56 | Moderate | 11.9 | 19.1 |
| Wed, 8:00 AM EDT | 56 | Moderate | 11.8 | 18.5 |
| Wed, 9:00 AM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 12.9 | 18.3 |
| Wed, 10:00 AM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 11.7 | 19.4 |
| Wed, 11:00 AM EDT | 56 | Moderate | 11.5 | 22.5 |
| Wed, 12:00 PM EDT | 57 | Moderate | 12.2 | 26.9 |
| Wed, 1:00 PM EDT | 56 | Moderate | 10.8 | 31.9 |
| Wed, 2:00 PM EDT | 55 | Moderate | 9.8 | 37.4 |
| Wed, 3:00 PM EDT | 53 | Moderate | 9 | 42.7 |
| Wed, 4:00 PM EDT | 52 | Moderate | 8.1 | 48.3 |
| Wed, 5:00 PM EDT | 51 | Moderate | 8.6 | 53.4 |
| Wed, 6:00 PM EDT | 54 | Moderate | 9.2 | 56.7 |
| Wed, 7:00 PM EDT | 58 | Moderate | 9.3 | 57.4 |
| Wed, 8:00 PM EDT | 52 | Moderate | 10.2 | 55.5 |
| Wed, 9:00 PM EDT | 50 | Good | 8 | 52.4 |
| Wed, 10:00 PM EDT | 47 | Good | 7.6 | 48.5 |
| Wed, 11:00 PM EDT | 47 | Good | 8.7 | 44.7 |
| Thu, 12:00 AM EDT | 47 | Good | 8.4 | 41 |
| Thu, 1:00 AM EDT | 47 | Good | 8.7 | 37.2 |
| Thu, 2:00 AM EDT | 47 | Good | 8.3 | 33.5 |
| Thu, 3:00 AM EDT | 47 | Good | 8.3 | 29.8 |
| Thu, 4:00 AM EDT | 48 | Good | 9.1 | 27.3 |
| Thu, 5:00 AM EDT | 48 | Good | 8.6 | 25.5 |
| Thu, 6:00 AM EDT | 48 | Good | 9.3 | 23.9 |
| Thu, 7:00 AM EDT | 49 | Good | 9.2 | 22.1 |
| Thu, 8:00 AM EDT | 49 | Good | 9.1 | 20.1 |
| Thu, 9:00 AM EDT | 49 | Good | 9.1 | 18.7 |
| Thu, 10:00 AM EDT | 48 | Good | 7.8 | 18.8 |
| Thu, 11:00 AM EDT | 47 | Good | 7.8 | 21.3 |
| Thu, 12:00 PM EDT | 46 | Good | 7.5 | 24.9 |
| Thu, 1:00 PM EDT | 43 | Good | 6.8 | 29 |
| Thu, 2:00 PM EDT | 42 | Good | 7.2 | 33.4 |
| Thu, 3:00 PM EDT | 38 | Good | 6.1 | 38.1 |
| Thu, 4:00 PM EDT | 39 | Good | 5.3 | 42.7 |
| Thu, 5:00 PM EDT | 43 | Good | 4.9 | 47 |
| Thu, 6:00 PM EDT | 45 | Good | 5.4 | 49.7 |
| Thu, 7:00 PM EDT | 46 | Good | 5.9 | 50.1 |
| Thu, 8:00 PM EDT | 44 | Good | 7.4 | 48.5 |
| Thu, 9:00 PM EDT | 43 | Good | 3.9 | 46.4 |
| Thu, 10:00 PM EDT | 40 | Good | 2.9 | 43.9 |
| Thu, 11:00 PM EDT | 38 | Good | 3.9 | 41.1 |
| Fri, 12:00 AM EDT | 35 | Good | 3.9 | 38.2 |
| Fri, 1:00 AM EDT | 32 | Good | 4.1 | 35 |
| Fri, 2:00 AM EDT | 29 | Good | 4.4 | 31.8 |
| Fri, 3:00 AM EDT | 26 | Good | 4.4 | 28.5 |
| Fri, 4:00 AM EDT | 24 | Good | 4.6 | 25.7 |
| Fri, 5:00 AM EDT | 26 | Good | 4.8 | 22.8 |
| Fri, 6:00 AM EDT | 27 | Good | 5.1 | 20 |
| Fri, 7:00 AM EDT | 29 | Good | 5.7 | 17.6 |
| Fri, 8:00 AM EDT | 32 | Good | 6.2 | 15.4 |
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 Lexington in satellite imagery today.
NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 1.8 µg/m³ around Thu, 12:00 AM EDT.
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 LexingtonWarnings in Lexington CountyLive radar over LexingtonSouth Carolina 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.