Washington air quality

Peaceful Valley, Washington Air Quality

Whatcom County48.938, -122.147

The nearest monitor to Peaceful Valley, at Abbotsford Airport, 10 miles away, measured an index of 62 at Sun, 7:00 PM PDT, which is Moderate for fine particles (PM2.5). Northwest Clean Air Agency forecasts Moderate for Maple Falls today and Moderate tomorrow. NOAA’s analysts drew light wildfire smoke over the town today.

Measured now
62 · 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 Peaceful Valley, 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 Peaceful Valley, 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 Peaceful Valley right now. All Washington warnings.

Now

Moderate

Nearest monitor
Abbotsford Airport, 10 miles away (site 000101005)
Index measured
62 · Moderate
Measured at
Sun, 7:00 PM PDT
Fine particles
20.1 µg/m³
Ozone
33 ppb
Reporting area
Maple Falls, WA, under a mile away
Reported by
Northwest Clean Air Agency

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

Today and tomorrow

Northwest Clean Air Agency's own forecast for Maple Falls, written by a forecaster rather than read off a model.

DayCategoryIndexPollutant
TodayModeratePM2.5
TomorrowModeratePM2.5
Tuesday, September 22GoodPM2.5
Wednesday, September 23GoodPM2.5
Thursday, September 24GoodPM2.5

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 66, Moderate, around Sun, 9:00 PM PDT, from the run issued Sun, 8:00 PM PDT. This is a model, not a measurement.

HourIndexCategoryPM2.5Ozone
Sun, 7:00 AM PDT46Good7.9
Sun, 8:00 AM PDT44Good7.3
Sun, 9:00 AM PDT43Good7.5
Sun, 10:00 AM PDT43Good7.8
Sun, 11:00 AM PDT44Good8.8
Sun, 12:00 PM PDT48Good10
Sun, 1:00 PM PDT52Moderate10.916.4
Sun, 2:00 PM PDT52Moderate10.819.3
Sun, 3:00 PM PDT53Moderate10.122.7
Sun, 4:00 PM PDT53Moderate10.626.3
Sun, 5:00 PM PDT54Moderate11.730
Sun, 6:00 PM PDT56Moderate13.332.8
Sun, 7:00 PM PDT60Moderate1635
Sun, 8:00 PM PDT64Moderate17.936
Sun, 9:00 PM PDT66Moderate18.135.9
Sun, 10:00 PM PDT66Moderate17.435
Sun, 11:00 PM PDT66Moderate17.833.4
Mon, 12:00 AM PDT66Moderate17.631.4
Mon, 1:00 AM PDT65Moderate15.729
Mon, 2:00 AM PDT63Moderate14.726.6
Mon, 3:00 AM PDT62Moderate13.524
Mon, 4:00 AM PDT60Moderate12.422.1
Mon, 5:00 AM PDT58Moderate11.120.5
Mon, 6:00 AM PDT57Moderate11.319.2
Mon, 7:00 AM PDT55Moderate10.618.1
Mon, 8:00 AM PDT52Moderate8.617.3
Mon, 9:00 AM PDT51Moderate8.716.6
Mon, 10:00 AM PDT46Good7.216.4
Mon, 11:00 AM PDT38Good5.416.7
Mon, 12:00 PM PDT28Good3.517.3
Mon, 1:00 PM PDT20Good2.218.2
Mon, 2:00 PM PDT18Good2.319.2
Mon, 3:00 PM PDT19Good2.720.7
Mon, 4:00 PM PDT20Good322.2
Mon, 5:00 PM PDT21Good323.9
Mon, 6:00 PM PDT23Good2.725.3
Mon, 7:00 PM PDT24Good2.626.3
Mon, 8:00 PM PDT24Good2.626.4
Mon, 9:00 PM PDT24Good2.626.2
Mon, 10:00 PM PDT23Good2.725.6
Mon, 11:00 PM PDT22Good2.824.8
Tue, 12:00 AM PDT21Good2.723.8
Tue, 1:00 AM PDT20Good2.522.8
Tue, 2:00 AM PDT19Good2.522
Tue, 3:00 AM PDT19Good2.321
Tue, 4:00 AM PDT19Good2.320.7
Tue, 5:00 AM PDT19Good1.920.5
Tue, 6:00 AM PDT19Good1.320.4
Tue, 7:00 AM PDT19Good1.520.1
Tue, 8:00 AM PDT18Good1.419.9
Tue, 9:00 AM PDT18Good219.8
Tue, 10:00 AM PDT19Good2.320.3
Tue, 11:00 AM PDT19Good2.521.2
Tue, 12:00 PM PDT20Good2.522.2
Tue, 1:00 PM PDT21Good2.223.4
Tue, 2:00 PM PDT23Good2.125.1
Tue, 3:00 PM PDT24Good1.926.9
Tue, 4:00 PM PDT26Good1.728.6
Tue, 5:00 PM PDT27Good1.529.9
Tue, 6:00 PM PDT28Good1.930.5
Tue, 7:00 PM PDT28Good2.430.6
Tue, 8:00 PM PDT27Good3.129.8
Tue, 9:00 PM PDT26Good3.328.4
Tue, 10:00 PM PDT24Good3.426.7
Tue, 11:00 PM PDT23Good3.625.1
Wed, 12:00 AM PDT21Good3.523.6
Wed, 1:00 AM PDT20Good2.922.5
Wed, 2:00 AM PDT19Good221.5
Wed, 3:00 AM PDT19Good1.820.4
Wed, 4:00 AM PDT18Good1.819.7
Wed, 5:00 AM PDT17Good1.618.8

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 Peaceful Valley in satellite imagery today (Sun, 5:00 AM PDT to Sun, 8:00 AM PDT). That is smoke seen from above; it is not always smoke at ground level.

NOAA’s model forecasts near-surface smoke peaking at 1.1342699999999999e+47 µg/m³ around Sat, 8:00 PM PDT, above the 35 µg/m³ level of EPA’s 24-hour fine particle standard.

Smoke on the radar over Peaceful Valley

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 Peaceful ValleyWarnings in Whatcom CountyLive radar over Peaceful ValleyWashington 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.