Washington air quality

Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington Air Quality

Spokane County47.619, -117.648

The nearest monitor to Fairchild Air Force Base, at Airway Heights-West 12th (US), 3 miles away, measured an index of 51 at Sun, 11:00 AM PDT, which is Moderate for fine particles (PM2.5). Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency forecasts Moderate for Spokane today and Moderate tomorrow.

Measured now
51 · Moderate
Today
— · Moderate
Tomorrow
— · Moderate
Pollutant
PM2.5

Fine particles on the map

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

Forecast fine particulate matter from NOAA’s National Air Quality Forecast Capability over Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington 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 Fairchild Air Force Base right now. All Washington warnings.

Now

Moderate

Nearest monitor
Airway Heights-West 12th (US), 3 miles away (site 530639999)
Index measured
51 · Moderate
Measured at
Sun, 11:00 AM PDT
Fine particles
9 µg/m³
Reporting area
Spokane, WA, 11 miles away
Reported by
Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency
Area index
51 · Moderate

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

Today and tomorrow

Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency's own forecast for Spokane, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModeratePM2.5
TomorrowModeratePM2.5

The forecaster’s discussion

Written by Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency for Spokane and filed with AirNow.

Forecast Discussion – The weather is expected to be sunny, warm with calm winds this weekend. Overnight inversions may allow fine particulates (PM2.5) to build at night. Daytime ventilation should help disperse the fine particulates. Air quality should be AQI-Good Friday. Then air quality may range AQI Good to AQI Moderate Saturday through Monday. /MC (Issued 9/18/26 8:15AM)

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 91, Moderate, around Tue, 5:00 AM PDT, from the run issued Sun, 5:00 AM PDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Sun, 7:00 AM PDT55Moderate10.6
Sun, 8:00 AM PDT55Moderate11.1
Sun, 9:00 AM PDT58Moderate15.4
Sun, 10:00 AM PDT60Moderate15.6
Sun, 11:00 AM PDT60Moderate13.6
Sun, 12:00 PM PDT56Moderate8.8
Sun, 1:00 PM PDT53Moderate8.722.1
Sun, 2:00 PM PDT48Good7.526.3
Sun, 3:00 PM PDT40Good5.730.9
Sun, 4:00 PM PDT33Good4.835.9
Sun, 5:00 PM PDT36Good6.339.9
Sun, 6:00 PM PDT39Good7.242.5
Sun, 7:00 PM PDT46Good9.843.6
Sun, 8:00 PM PDT52Moderate11.542.7
Sun, 9:00 PM PDT57Moderate15.240
Sun, 10:00 PM PDT61Moderate16.936.8
Sun, 11:00 PM PDT64Moderate17.333.2
Mon, 12:00 AM PDT64Moderate16.729.1
Mon, 1:00 AM PDT65Moderate17.425
Mon, 2:00 AM PDT67Moderate1921.3
Mon, 3:00 AM PDT69Moderate20.218
Mon, 4:00 AM PDT70Moderate19.415.8
Mon, 5:00 AM PDT69Moderate18.714.9
Mon, 6:00 AM PDT69Moderate18.114.1
Mon, 7:00 AM PDT67Moderate16.313.1
Mon, 8:00 AM PDT66Moderate1612.3
Mon, 9:00 AM PDT67Moderate17.412.5
Mon, 10:00 AM PDT66Moderate15.513.4
Mon, 11:00 AM PDT62Moderate12.715.3
Mon, 12:00 PM PDT60Moderate1218.1
Mon, 1:00 PM PDT56Moderate10.521.4
Mon, 2:00 PM PDT52Moderate7.825.1
Mon, 3:00 PM PDT46Good6.629.3
Mon, 4:00 PM PDT37Good5.234
Mon, 5:00 PM PDT34Good4.537.9
Mon, 6:00 PM PDT37Good5.440.4
Mon, 7:00 PM PDT38Good7.141.7
Mon, 8:00 PM PDT39Good7.841.4
Mon, 9:00 PM PDT49Good10.639.6
Mon, 10:00 PM PDT56Moderate15.237.6
Mon, 11:00 PM PDT60Moderate15.635
Tue, 12:00 AM PDT65Moderate19.231.9
Tue, 1:00 AM PDT72Moderate2428.8
Tue, 2:00 AM PDT80Moderate28.626.2
Tue, 3:00 AM PDT84Moderate29.823.5
Tue, 4:00 AM PDT90Moderate32.621.8
Tue, 5:00 AM PDT91Moderate31.221.3
Tue, 6:00 AM PDT72Moderate10.820.5
Tue, 7:00 AM PDT69Moderate16.620.1
Tue, 8:00 AM PDT63Moderate12.419.6
Tue, 9:00 AM PDT58Moderate10.920.2
Tue, 10:00 AM PDT56Moderate10.821.6
Tue, 11:00 AM PDT54Moderate9.224.2
Tue, 12:00 PM PDT51Moderate7.826.7
Tue, 1:00 PM PDT45Good7.128.9
Tue, 2:00 PM PDT41Good6.831.8
Tue, 3:00 PM PDT38Good6.434.4
Tue, 4:00 PM PDT35Good5.837.3
Tue, 5:00 PM PDT36Good4.439.1
Tue, 6:00 PM PDT36Good1.539.4
Tue, 7:00 PM PDT35Good0.838.7
Tue, 8:00 PM PDT34Good0.737.3
Tue, 9:00 PM PDT32Good1.335.4
Tue, 10:00 PM PDT31Good1.633.2
Tue, 11:00 PM PDT28Good0.930.7
Wed, 12:00 AM PDT25Good0.827.8
Wed, 1:00 AM PDT22Good0.824.9
Wed, 2:00 AM PDT20Good0.822.5
Wed, 3:00 AM PDT19Good1.220.4
Wed, 4:00 AM PDT17Good4.119
Wed, 5:00 AM PDT26Good6.817.8

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 analysts have not drawn smoke over Fairchild Air Force Base in satellite imagery today.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 0.5 µg/m³ around Sun, 4:00 PM PDT.

Smoke on the radar over Fairchild Air Force Base

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 Fairchild Air Force BaseWarnings in Spokane CountyLive radar over Fairchild Air Force BaseWashington 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.