Today's Air Quality

Note: An Air Quality Watch has been issued for Santa Barbara County to be in effect through the weekend. High winds are producing elevated levels of particles in some areas. Particle readings in real time are available for the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Lompoc (H Street) stations. To view these readings, see Station Summary page and select one of these stations. Levels of PM10 averaging higher than 150 or PM2.5 averaging higher than 35 are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Summer is smog season, and on particularly hot days, we may see high levels of ground-ozone, a principal component of smog. Summer is also fire season, when smoke and ash from wildfires may impact our county's air, and we may see high levels of particles, also called particulate matter.

To see current air quality at any monitoring location, click on the map to go to our Station Summary page and select the location and the number of days of data you wish to see.

The Station Summary data shows hourly ozone levels at each monitoring station, and current particulate levels at Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Lompoc (H Street). Real-time readings of particulates may be elevated due to smoke, ash and dust. Levels of PM10 averaging higher than 150 or PM2.5 averaging higher than 35 are considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.

The AQI Index below refers to ozone levels only; if smoke is in an area, check particulate levels and also see this smoke page.

Air quality advisories and updates are posted on our News & Notices page.

When ozone or particle levels are high it's best to stay indoors and avoid outdoor exercise. For more on the health effects of air pollution, see this page.

Today's Air Quality Index (AQI) due to Ozone

The AQI for the current day is available after 9AM, and is updated hourly during the day.

Note: this index refers only to ozone. Air quality in some areas may be poor due to the presence of particles in the air. See above reference to Station Summary pages to check particle levels at Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, and Lompoc stations.