South Carolina air quality

Union, South Carolina Air Quality

Union County34.715, -81.624

The nearest monitor to Union, at TK Gregg, 24 miles away, measured an index of 53 at Mon, 10:00 AM EDT, which is Moderate for fine particles (PM2.5). South Carolina DES forecasts Moderate for Greenville-Spartanburg today.

Measured now
53 · Moderate
Today
51 · Moderate
Tomorrow
Not forecast
Pollutant
PM2.5

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Union, South Carolina 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 Union right now. All South Carolina warnings.

Now

Moderate

Nearest monitor
TK Gregg, 24 miles away (site 450830011)
Index measured
53 · Moderate
Measured at
Mon, 10:00 AM EDT
Fine particles
10.6 µg/m³
Reporting area
Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, 33 miles away
Reported by
South Carolina DES
Area index
53 · Moderate

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 Greenville-Spartanburg, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModerate51Ozone

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by South Carolina DES for Greenville-Spartanburg and filed with AirNow.

As of Sunday mid-afternoon, all forecast zones are trending Code Green for ground-level ozone concentration for the rest of the day. The upper-level low will remain over Florida as the upper-level ridge flattens and continues the trend of hot and humid conditions in South Carolina on Monday. Most of the state should see clear to mostly sunny skies, but areas in the northwest or along the coast could see increases in cloud cover during the afternoon. This is due to the chances for scattered showers and thunderstorms being higher at those locations, but the risk for severe weather will stay low despite the diurnal convection. Temperatures are forecast to slightly rise to highs in the low to mid-90s and lows in the upper 60s to low 70s. Winds are expected to start the day as light and variable before developing a light southeasterly flow with speeds around 4-7 mph in the afternoon. The air mass should continue to be mostly clean as the workweek begins; therefore, the ozone forecast for Monday projects the Upstate to peak at CODE YELLOW and all other zones at 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 44, Good, around Tue, 8:00 PM EDT, from the run issued Mon, 2:00 AM EDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Mon, 4:00 AM EDT37Good7.2
Mon, 5:00 AM EDT41Good8.2
Mon, 6:00 AM EDT43Good8.5
Mon, 7:00 AM EDT40Good6.1
Mon, 8:00 AM EDT36Good5.5
Mon, 9:00 AM EDT34Good5.8
Mon, 10:00 AM EDT38Good8.212.7
Mon, 11:00 AM EDT40Good7.714.5
Mon, 12:00 PM EDT41Good7.617.3
Mon, 1:00 PM EDT41Good7.621
Mon, 2:00 PM EDT41Good7.425.3
Mon, 3:00 PM EDT42Good7.729.9
Mon, 4:00 PM EDT42Good7.734.6
Mon, 5:00 PM EDT42Good7.838.8
Mon, 6:00 PM EDT43Good8.142
Mon, 7:00 PM EDT42Good7.343.4
Mon, 8:00 PM EDT41Good6.843.3
Mon, 9:00 PM EDT42Good7.842
Mon, 10:00 PM EDT42Good7.839.8
Mon, 11:00 PM EDT42Good7.937.4
Tue, 12:00 AM EDT42Good7.734.6
Tue, 1:00 AM EDT42Good7.731.8
Tue, 2:00 AM EDT42Good7.629.5
Tue, 3:00 AM EDT42Good7.127.8
Tue, 4:00 AM EDT41Good6.726.5
Tue, 5:00 AM EDT38Good6.125.6
Tue, 6:00 AM EDT36Good5.725
Tue, 7:00 AM EDT36Good624.3
Tue, 8:00 AM EDT34Good5.923.7
Tue, 9:00 AM EDT33Good5.723.7
Tue, 10:00 AM EDT33Good624.1
Tue, 11:00 AM EDT33Good5.825.1
Tue, 12:00 PM EDT33Good6.126.9
Tue, 1:00 PM EDT33Good6.129.4
Tue, 2:00 PM EDT33Good632.3
Tue, 3:00 PM EDT32Good5.535.3
Tue, 4:00 PM EDT35Good5.838.6
Tue, 5:00 PM EDT38Good5.641.9
Tue, 6:00 PM EDT41Good5.444.4
Tue, 7:00 PM EDT43Good4.646.2
Tue, 8:00 PM EDT44Good4.347.2
Tue, 9:00 PM EDT43Good5.146.8
Tue, 10:00 PM EDT42Good4.445.5
Tue, 11:00 PM EDT41Good3.644
Wed, 12:00 AM EDT39Good4.242.5
Wed, 1:00 AM EDT37Good4.740.5
Wed, 2:00 AM EDT35Good5.338.2
Wed, 3:00 AM EDT32Good6.335.6
Wed, 4:00 AM EDT34Good6.832.9
Wed, 5:00 AM EDT34Good6.330.6
Wed, 6:00 AM EDT32Good5.328.6
Wed, 7:00 AM EDT28Good4.426.2
Wed, 8:00 AM EDT26Good4.223.6
Wed, 9:00 AM EDT23Good3.721.2
Wed, 10:00 AM EDT24Good4.519
Wed, 11:00 AM EDT24Good4.717.6
Wed, 12:00 PM EDT25Good4.617
Wed, 1:00 PM EDT24Good4.417.5
Wed, 2:00 PM EDT26Good4.818.6
Wed, 3:00 PM EDT26Good4.920.6
Wed, 4:00 PM EDT23Good3.422.7
Wed, 5:00 PM EDT22Good3.424.5
Wed, 6:00 PM EDT23Good3.725.9
Wed, 7:00 PM EDT24Good3.526.5
Wed, 8:00 PM EDT24Good2.826.4
Wed, 9:00 PM EDT23Good3.225.9
Wed, 10:00 PM EDT22Good3.525
Wed, 11:00 PM EDT21Good423.7
Thu, 12:00 AM EDT22Good4.522.6
Thu, 1:00 AM EDT23Good4.721.6
Thu, 2:00 AM EDT24Good4.821

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 Union in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.4 µg/m³ around Mon, 12:00 PM EDT.

Smoke on the radar over Union

What this means

Moderate

Air quality is acceptable. There may be a risk for some people, particularly those who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.

Who is affected
People who are unusually sensitive to ozone or fine particles.
What to do
If you are unusually sensitive, consider making long or intense outdoor activity shorter or easier.
Index range
51 to 100

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 UnionWarnings in Union CountyLive radar over UnionSouth 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.